With
Hot Dreams
,
Timber Timbre
already delivered one excellent album in 2014 that could have been a soundtrack; as
Last Ex
, the band's
Simon Trottier
and
Olivier Fairfield
deliver an even more filmic collection with their self-titled debut. The duo expanded
's scrapped score to the horror film Last Exorcism II -- but if it's fleshed out, it's also decaying:
delivers an elegant, witty creepfest full of warm, murky sounds with a beautiful sickliness to them.
Fairfield
Trottier
blend whimsy and dread as easily as they blend their influences. Sometimes the album sounds like a collaboration between
John Carpenter
Silver Apples
; elsewhere, it recalls
Dirty Beaches
' tattered glamour and
David Lynch
-ian jangle; hints of
John Barry
surface on the more romantic tracks; and the touches of pedal steel here and there recall
Friends of Dean Martinez
' similarly eerie
Random Harvest
. Impressively, the album's nods to kitsch and lounge don't detract from its unsettling quality; instead, the playful moments make the ones designed to make your stomach sink stand out even more. As gifted as
are at fashioning absorbing atmospheres,
allows
(who are joined by their bandmates
Taylor Kirk
Mika Posen
on several songs) to toy with their listeners' moods even more cleverly on these haunted vignettes and more substantial experiments in terror. Spooky, playful, and even somewhat poignant,
will delight anyone who loves the more flamboyant side of instrumental and film music as well as
fans. ~ Heather Phares