Denver-based alt-psych-pop artist Graffiti Welfare makes his entry on our site with his latest project titled Revolving Shores. The 10-track body of work is an experimental psych-pop effort with elements of lofi, EDM and dark pop. While vocals appear every now and then on the tracks, it is an instrumental project for the most part. In his own words, Revolving Shores weaves together a narrative of uncertainty and introspection that powerfully transports and resonates with his listeners.
Revolving Shores opens up with “To Be It”, a sombre track made up of dreamy and sublime pads that are underpinned by a subtle wobbly synth that lends its strength in the low frequencies. The progression is quite seamless and gradual and listeners are taken deep into this cornucopia of sounds that soothes the mind, the record is accentuated by an insightful vocal narration from the late great Alan Watts. This is followed by “Just Follow”, a psych-pop piece made up of airy strings, punchy sparsely arranged drums and dark sound design that are threaded together by a short melodic vocal performance. On “DejaBlue”, we are treated with more off-kilter and experimental pop sounds but with punchier drums. The ebb and flow of this track is quite dynamic and the blend of lush synth plucks and arpeggios take center stage but the reverb-soaked vocals do strike the ears in the chorus section. “Good News” takes things into the dark cinematic department with its glitchy/ gated synth and crunchy drums while “Volume” makes use of panned vocal effects, slick guitar riffs and rising synths with moody pads to boot.
The experimental fun continues with “Echoes Of Our Sound”, a solemn and somewhat nostalgia-inducing track that is made up of sad piano riffs, and melancholic synth-pads with layered sounds. The vocals come towards the tail end and it’s quite enticing and powerful even though it’s short. “Synesthesia” makes use of a gated synth pad and rich electric guitar pluck that sounds like lofi surf-pop. The dynamics here are vivid and the progression sure draws listeners in with its ever-changing chords and revolving instruments that come into play later on. “Nothing Ever Changes” delivers that rich retrospective vibe with its dreamy synths, moody pop textures made up of lofi sound design, slick guitar chords and an overall warm sensation that offers comfort to listeners.
The project closes out with “Missing the War” and “Seashell”, two distinct tracks that further stamp Graffiti Welfare’s ingenious production skills. The former is a medley of styles rich with layered instrumentation like rousing electric guitar chords. Solemn organ-driven vocal performances and video-game-esque synths with cinematic guitars and Drum and Bass styled percussions. The latter starts off with a mid-tempo dance drum groove and slowly evolves into psych-pop territory with atmospheric synthesizers, wobbly arpeggios and somewhat solemn pads.
Overall, this 10-track body of work is superbly constructive with an overarching theme that is visibly cohesive, soul-gripping and engaging from start to finish.
The Author
