by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Chicago’s Gentle Heat are at a crossroads, and while they head into the future with a clear confidence, the band are at the end of an era. With a shift in the line-up forthcoming, the band that recorded last year’s Sheer, come back together once more to create Trick, an EP that maps where they’ve been as much as it highlights where they’re headed. Due out September 8th, the three songs approach shoegaze with a swarming pop quality, more concerned with riptide rhythmic pulses and swooning hooks than layered distortion (though they prove very capable of that as well). The core duo of Joe Suihkonen (guitars), David Algrim (guitars, vocals, keys) is rounded out with Tim Mack (drums), Sarah Clausen (keys, vocals) and Ken Sugawara (bass), and there would seem to be a greater emphasis on the collaborative process, as Clausen’s voice and synths play a major role.
Lead single “Myth” wastes little time introducing us to those buzzing synths, laying a dreamscape framework for the song’s soft propulsion. For a song that settles in as instantly as it does, there’s a lot of nuance just under the surface, the band’s haze coming together with harmonious beauty. The hooks aren’t relegated to the chorus, Gentle Heat instead offer an immediate charm infused into each line without soaring into over-the-top structures. The entire song rattles through one catchy melody after the next while the drums rage in the distance of the sweetened melodic focus. There’s more than a little Ovlov/Stove influence at hand, but Gentle Heat make it their own, adding their unique cosmic flare-ups and ambient textures within the mix.