Crowbarring post-Internet music into genres is inadequate. This is inconvenient for the writer, as pigeonholing is such an easy tool. I say this as a caveat to excuse the gap between my enthusiasm for Oliver Tank's EP Dream and any ability to describe it.
There is delicate forcefulness to the sparse, deracinated glitch-pop (sorry) of the record. Deracinated, because there are identifiable sounds (orchestral strings, basement soundscapes, acoustic guitar, clips-and-clops), entirely removed from their context and repositioned in Tank's world. It's an expansive minimalism that I can't help but feel could be the soundtrack to someone experiencing a quiet epiphany in a cave.
Flitting across the tops of these songs are the gentle vocals - either of Tank, or collaborator Fawn Myers on a couple of tracks. They're rich, full of sentiment, but never mawkish. The effect prompts James Blake associations, though the comparison is, at this point in their respective careers, unfair.
Because it is so graceful, I found the record could be overwhelmed by things like emails and coffee shops, and is best enjoyed inside your own head - walking somewhere, and presumably in a small club. I'm happy to be proved wrong on this though. Dreams will grab, maintain, and reward your attention.
who:
Oliver Tank
where No Years
See him live at No Years Festival, Sat Dec 31 at The Powerhouse
WIN
We have a dbl to No Years to giveaway thanks to Happy Endings. To go in the draw e-mail
win.brisbane@thethousands.com.au with the subject 'yes tanks'
Australian Competitions Club
