aire – You Are Here (2014)

Thailand’s aire share a lot of musical traits in common with the math and post rock greats in their mid-northern hemispheric vicinity. In a similar fashion to, perhaps, toe and Uchu Conbini, aire employ clean guitar tones with a gentle reverb that allows their melodies to gleam and retain a positive, soothing flow. For proof, please find enclosed You Are Here, aire’s first full length.

The calm ringing of guitars in You Are Here‘s opening title track exemplifies this quite well. However, the real quality of this reverbed tone becomes much apparent in a song like, say, ‘Turkish Ice’ or ‘Forest,’ where the rapid-fire plucking of the melodies really ring out and roll over each other. The mastering in this album is commendable; the ringing of keyboards and reverb on the staccato licks creates the comforting lullaby-like resonance typified across the album. In a similar fashion to the album’s opener, ‘Before Flight’ provides a simple but pounding post-rock finish to You Are Here. The crescendo-like nature of these two tracks act like powerful parentheses around a more mathematical core.

There is a familiar sound emanating from this part of the world, one that combines the emotion of post rock and the vivacity of math rock in its recipe. In other words, a good sound. A sound that says ‘Mate, that’s not a problem you’re dealing with, it’s a challenge that holds a way forward‘ (they probably don’t engage in Australian vernacular like ‘mate’ but I’m sure you appreciate my sentiment). You Are Here is this sound.