Scribble Mural Comic Journal
A Sunny Day In Glasgow’s Scribble Mural Comic Journal begins as if you are being awakened by two angelic voices on a bright sunny morning as rays of sunlight pour through a bedroom window penetrating your barely opened eyes which are unable to focus on anything but the shimmering light. Your mind is still foggy as your try to decipher between dreaming and reality in a world of ethereal layers and sounds. “No. 6 Von Karman Street” kicks in and you slowly rise from bed, still cloudy but up and moving around, cutting through the haze to get to your morning coffee. A vague beat starts making its way through the airy vocals and layers and after a few sips, the beat kicks in a little heavier as the caffeine hits your bloodstream. A moment of clarity as your head starts to bob, before your whirled back into a fog as you try and remember the rhythm that sprung you awake a few moments ago.
If the first two tracks on the record represent the clarity one tries to achieve upon waking up, then the sixth song on the album, “Lists, Plans” could represent one’s mind in complete delirium. The song is grounded by what sounds like a guitar being played underwater and the once angelic vocals turn rather ghostly swooping from ear to ear. Add in what sounds like a dozen or so clocks going off at once followed by a twisted violin sample and one’s sure to have their nerves on end. The familiar “C’mon” follows and it’s not until the warm organ swaths of “The Horn Song” that our nerves are soothed.
Ben Daniels truly proves his mastery of layering samples and nearly hypnotizing electronic textures on this debut that suspends the listener in a world somewhere between a murky dream and real life. The album abounds with samples, some of the more recognizable are the wind chimes at the end of “5:15 Train†and the aforementioned violin. My favorite track off the record is “Ghost In A Graveyard” which sort of reminds me of My Bloody Valentine’s “Blown A Wish” in the way that the song breathes, almost as if it’s inhaling and exhaling. It’s even got a heartbeat to boot. Subtle swirling layers creep from the abyss and rise to a climax as the ethereal Daniels sisters’ voices swim around each another in a soup of reverb and noise.
Scribble Mural Comic Journal is out February 13th on Notenuf. Pre-order a copy here.
Kudos to Ben Daniels and crew for an exceptional debut.
Vicodin….
Vicodin….