Labels: Custom Made Music
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Always a pleasure to receive vinyl from across the ocean, as I appreciate it takes more money and effort to pop a single in the mail than spam out a download link to 1000 blogs. Dead Leaf Echo I assume took a little while to see that someone at the C would be more likely to appreciate their music than not, and that’s certainly the case with this two track single. “Half Truth” gently flows over side A, displaying plenty of soothing dream pop niceties. The guitars are FX’ed up and the vocals soar, my references for this genre are not extravagant, but it brings to mind Antarctica and Pale Saints perhaps. The promo bumf also establishes that they worked with a chap called John Fryer who a quick google search reveals produced albums by the likes of the Cocteau Twins and various other 4AD luminaries, so you can see the sector they’re working in. “Baby Eyes” on the flip is more upbeat and energetic, but maintains the spaced out pop template, sounding not so dissimilar to the work of Wild Nothing. I prefer this track of the two, but they both make for a fine introduction to an enjoyable band. Sure, they aren’t pushing back the boundaries or confounding expectations, but they are making good music. And that’s all it takes.