Rachel's
Systems/Layers
Quarterstick

I’ve never been able to grasp the foundations of Rachel’s and how they fall under the umbrella of Indie Rock. In reality, they prefer to live closer to the border of Modern Classical, yet they continually get dragged over into a world typically drowning in weeping guitars. It’s not a complaint as such, because if they weren’t being loved by the indie kids, I may never have had the guts to check out The Sea and The Bells, and all of the grandeur and rewards kept safely hidden inside it. Follow-up Selenography never quite worked the same way for me, despite the critical acclaim. I think it helped me discover my phobia of harpsichord though.

Well the here and now brings us Systems/Layers, and yes, the ingredients remain the same – take 4 tablespoons of piano, 0.8ltr of the nearest string section, a pinch of drummer, add a handful of sound manipulators for flavouring, and shake violently before pouring the contents out onto the tabletop and watching where it flows to. The apparent chaos does take its toll on the sound, and they certainly don’t retread old ground, but the main test for Systems/Layers is whether it is a solid piece of work that can captivate the listener throughout, and I’m just not sure it gets a passing grade in that respect.

It doesn’t make Systems/Layers a bad album, just that from start to end, the route taken can either feel convoluted or simply uneasy. When you analyze individual tracks for what they are, a number of them are completely wonderful though. ‘Water From the Same Source’ opens the album like Sigur Ros at their best. It is almost the perfect point where classical music becomes entwined with indie, and they pirouette and dance together, floating on the air. It is then revisited beautifully on piano for the album closer ‘NY Snow Globe’. ‘Esperanza’ also harnesses as much emotion and drama from an orchestra as is physically possible, and it’s these moments that show how much power Rachel’s have at their disposal.

So when the songs are allowed to flow and take their natural path, Systems/Layers can feel as good as Rachel’s ever have. The album merely suffers for the shorter tracks which attempt to push the story in new and interesting ways just for the sake of trying something different. It’s the only factor preventing a good album from being something special.

Steven McCarron

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