Raftmen
Montréal, Quebec, Canada | SELF
Music
Press
There are bands that need a few repeated listens before you warm up to their sound. There are those that just don’t do it for you. But Raftmen do it right away. They have an original sound that really gets to you and tells you that you have stumbled upon something special! The music and the artistry that everyone puts in this EP are really worth noting. Here’s what I think about the tracks:
"Time Never Waits" is an explosive and soaring song with thundering piano lines and amazing vocal harmonies. Ah, flood gates are open!
"Opening" is an instrumental that screams for a beautiful movie with glockenspiel, piano and commanding percussion. The arpeggios can really get to you like visions of colorful rain falling. Hypnotic is what I call it.
"Laws Were Made to be Broken" is washed in vocal harmonies and reverb. An atmospheric track that has that driving beat that takes you up to the last note with that engaging sound. Nice tinkling sounds like bells awash this track.
"Milan/Rome" sounds like an overture from an old film. Strings and rock driven tempo makes this song blossom into a piece that reminds me of REM’s Night Swimming. Dreamy and filled with wonderful riffs and hooks like a kaleidoscope spinning into your subconscious. There are so many parts in this song that you can take apart and analyze without ever getting tired of it.
"Like His Own" has that Freddy Mercury-like vocal delivery with its light falsetto coupled with amazing instrumental arrangement. Thanks to the classical training of these band members the music has that complex structure without being intimidating.
All the five songs in this EP are worth listening and getting. I am sure this is just a glimpse what these guys can offer to the world musically. Take a listen and buy the EP. You won’t regret it.
-Baxter Labatos
spheremusic.wordpress.com - spheremusic.wordpress.com
There are bands that need a few repeated listens before you warm up to their sound. There are those that just don’t do it for you. But Raftmen do it right away. They have an original sound that really gets to you and tells you that you have stumbled upon something special! The music and the artistry that everyone puts in this EP are really worth noting. Here’s what I think about the tracks:
"Time Never Waits" is an explosive and soaring song with thundering piano lines and amazing vocal harmonies. Ah, flood gates are open!
"Opening" is an instrumental that screams for a beautiful movie with glockenspiel, piano and commanding percussion. The arpeggios can really get to you like visions of colorful rain falling. Hypnotic is what I call it.
"Laws Were Made to be Broken" is washed in vocal harmonies and reverb. An atmospheric track that has that driving beat that takes you up to the last note with that engaging sound. Nice tinkling sounds like bells awash this track.
"Milan/Rome" sounds like an overture from an old film. Strings and rock driven tempo makes this song blossom into a piece that reminds me of REM’s Night Swimming. Dreamy and filled with wonderful riffs and hooks like a kaleidoscope spinning into your subconscious. There are so many parts in this song that you can take apart and analyze without ever getting tired of it.
"Like His Own" has that Freddy Mercury-like vocal delivery with its light falsetto coupled with amazing instrumental arrangement. Thanks to the classical training of these band members the music has that complex structure without being intimidating.
All the five songs in this EP are worth listening and getting. I am sure this is just a glimpse what these guys can offer to the world musically. Take a listen and buy the EP. You won’t regret it.
-Baxter Labatos
spheremusic.wordpress.com - spheremusic.wordpress.com
Discography
Heritage EP (2012) - self-released online
1 Time never waits
2 Opening
3 Laws were made to be broken
4 Milan/Rome
5 Like his own
Photos
Bio
It all began in late 2011 in Montreal, when Ben Duinker, Luke Fraser, Mark Morton, and Cy Giacomin (all originally from Halifax), decided to momentarily put aside their academic pursuits to form a band. Soon after, percussionist Alessandro Valiante joined the group and the Raftmen were born.
The Raftmen draw on diverse musical sources for inspiration; from composers like Debussy and Philip Glass, to pop artists such as Sufjan Stevens and the Stars. As a result they create a complex, layered, yet accessible sound, and build song forms which may not always conform to conventional pop song-structures. Occaisionally the Raftmen perform with strings, and recorded their debut release (Heritage EP) with the Montreal string quartet Portrait of a Lady.
Sounds Like: Sufjan Stevens, Stars, Andrew Bird, Sondre Lerche, Keane, Air Traffic
Links
