on botany

ferns ~ on botany (fruit records, 2007)

relax. you're about to hear a calm, loving, whispery album that will keep you quite amused, impressed, in love... if you're an indiepop kid you'll be in a zen state.
so ferns is this band that comes from malaysia and they, in fact, have the elements that most of the indiepop/twee bands from asia have... but wait a minute, it's more than that:
gentle, with no fear on using shimmering guitars; extremely melodic with twists in almost every song ranging from slow crying guitars to rough hooks.
the vocals are always whispery and it is an album about love and heartbreaking with sometimes brilliant lyrics like in 'dear derelict': "of all that was fair nothing remains/ all our conviction made fiction/ and we're to blame/ curse out their names/ merchants and pirates the same/ we ain't no better/but we'll enjoy our fame"; or in 'when we die': "and when we die/ do all our hopes survive?/ will all the fires in the sky/ extinguish with our dreams alive?"
ferns is lullaby with cristaline guitars and whispers in your ear. refined melancholia to those with forever hungry hearts. this is a mature and extremely consistent debut album for sleepless nights and walks with no clear direction.




01. this sweet refrain
02. disaster strikes again
03. wistful thinking
04. the western front
05. dear derelict
06. love in a handful of beans
07. i won't forget
08. citadel
09. death of a lifetimes
10. when we die

here's 'this sweet refrain' video by fairuz sulaiman:



myspace

No comments: