King Ibis
Reminiscing
Independent
A couple of months ago, I had the absolute pleasure of catching King Ibis at Jack Rabbit Slim’s. During their setlist, I found myself drooling over the combined melodic efforts of the local group of four. For a while, I thought my relationship with indie pop was over and that night I took a long swig from my cup of rock and roll and felt like it was missing something. Let’s just say, the flavours present on King Ibis’ latest release have me rethinking my choices.
Reminiscing starts with a pretty and delicate intro which feels like the last days of summer. It’s warm and rich, leading to the spectacular vocal capabilities of Nadene Burchell who croons about wasting time and reminiscing on the past. The bridge feels jolted, which reflects well in the context of the song and brings the track from easy listening to meaning something. The song feels light, yet there’s a tone of sadness to it which feels very truthful.
I would argue that this song loses a little of its impact by being so refined when it could have been less crisp and rawer to really touch into the message a little more. However, that might be my rock and roll background that calls for the ‘cut-out-your-heart-and-show-me-on-a-platter’ type approach. Overall, it’s a bloody delight. There are moments of the song when the dragged out lyrics coupled with the building chord progression have you close your eyes in whimsy.
ANNIE MUNROE
