Labels: Deep Elm
Review by: Mike Whelan
Now that The Appleseed Cast have left the label, it seems like Deep Elm are trying to replace them with a new soundalike. In Sweden’s Surrounded, they may well have done just that.
“Safety In Numbers’ is the perfect bedtime record. Not because it sends you to sleep, but because its hushed and layered sound seems completely suited to twilight hours spent thinking about the objectivity of art. If there was a musical genre named sleepy art core, Surrounded would be at the forefront, in fact, maybe they just created it. This is ultimate laid back music for music fans.
While The Appleseed Cast is a good reference, “Safety In Numbers’ isn’t a simple “Low Level Owl’ rehash. Surrounded make The Appleseed Cast seem like a bunch of kids playing with a tape recorder, experimental isn’t the word. For once, the poeticism of a Deep Elm press release seems justified.
If anybody heard the new Elliot album and was disappointed that it wasn’t a bit more like “False Cathedrals,’ then “Safety In Numbers’ should be on the top of the shopping list for the forthcoming dark nights. Best Deep Elm release of the year? Definitely.