Grave Pool - Mnemonics (2015)

Grave Pool’s sophomore album “Mnemonics” is a peculiar trip down memory lane. The peculiarity lies in the fact that the music is brand new yet somehow connects with snippets of a musical era now gone but not forgotten. From the atmosphere-building opening “Cast/Off” we are for a brief moment enveloped in an instrumental chorus of 80’s-era synthesisers and echoed guitar before being pulled into “National Forest”, its cascading keys reminiscent of The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven”. The rapture continues on the standout track “Frost Pockets” that despite its chilly name, oozes with warmth and would be a perfect fit in any John Hughes film.
Devon Kochersperger

The album’s single “Through the Skylight” is a fuzzy delight that merges the musical elements of the album’s previous songs yet creates a unique Dream Pop experience saturated by Devon Kochersperger’s gauzy vocals. The title track opening drum beat and synths is suggests references to New Order’s “Thieves Like Us” before the signature guitar jangles morph it into something completely different and beautiful.

“Neon Summers” drenches the senses with the flavours of Human League and When In Rome before the album’s finest gem is unveiled in “Blink Of An Eye” a wash of blue melody and drowsy transitions that drift on long after the track has faded off. Amazingly, Grave Pool still has more in store in “I’ll Tell You Later”, the music which evokes OMD’s “Messages”, before ending a near-perfect track listing with the short and sedate “Lagom”.