Ah, sometimes you need to mellow out. If you need to relax this may be the album for you. Chrome Wings gives me yet another reason to move to Portland, in case the ‘where the young go to retire’ slogan wasn’t enough. Most of these songs drift by in a haze of lo-fi chillwave glory.
‘New Lands’ has a great groove. Throughout the entire disc this is what keeps everything moving. I’m reminded of Sun Araw’s work in certain moments; particularly the catchy opener and title track ‘New Lands’. A bass works its way around lackadaisical guitars. Nothing ever appears to be properly timed, there’s a certain off quality on the album as a whole. Without this slight quirk the whole thing may not have the same charm. ‘Drip City’ displays this talent particularly well, with an off-sounding drum machine which oddly syncs up nicely with the background synthesizer.
For me the longer tracks were my favorites. Having such spaced out sounds expand helped ease my mind. Listening to how the melodies and grooves evolved felt more enjoyable than listening to the short vignettes. The shorter tracks had some particularly grand moments, the giddy “Motionless” being a case in point.
Chrome Wings ends things with the ambient piece “Forever” which sounds like a muffled transmission to a faraway galaxy. There’s nearly a melody but it never fully defined. It hugs the line between drones and ambient, never settling on either side of the spectrum. Whatever it is it is a beautiful end to the album.
I’m glad AMDISCS hasn’t lost its other-worldly charm. Chrome Wings has created a perfectly mellow album.
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