Album Review: Adventures - 'Supersonic Home'

20 February 2015 | 10:21 am | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

Cuttingly empathetic and delicately pretty.

More Adventures More Adventures

Let’s not talk about Code Orange. Without denying the fact that Code Orange are a great band, Adventures are a totally separate entity, a notion proven with their debut album 'Supersonic Home'. This idea suggests the band needs to be judged independently instead of exclusively from what they (only partially) sprouted out of. Also, Adventures are so good that they don’t need to live in the shadow of anyone else. Their sonic independence – which reveals influences but not a lack of individuality – makes it evident that they’re absolutely capable of paving their own way, free from associations.

'Supersonic Home' certainly makes a name for itself. It’s not the calm before the storm – it's calm and stormy at the same time. Suffice to say, labels like ‘airy’ are entirely unsuitable; this is dreamy, but not dazy, empty or meaningless. Pop undertones dive through it, but it has more dimensions than those three letters. It’s so layered that it grows on you; it has a warm, scarring depth and boundless opportunities for you to discover something new every time that you listen to it.

Opener ‘Dream Blue Haze’ reels you in immediately, and the whole album is involving – it begins almost as if in medias res. That’s also true in the sense that it’s empathetic – ‘Walk You To Bed’ offers listeners the opportunity to take part in heart string twanging nostalgia. Honest and desperate, jealous and candid, ‘Tension’ is subtly awkward and distinctively heart-rending as its poignant lyrics ring out: "I only wanted you for the tension".

Your Sweetness’ is the best exhibition of how broody yet optimistic vocals are contrasted with aggression, brought to the surface in this case by a single unclean that enables the album’s below-the-surface angst to rise to the exterior. ‘Absolution, Worth Requited’ showcases the interwoven vocals of the duo of Reba Meyers and Kimi Hanauer, which boasts emo influences with alternative textures. Their effectiveness is profound, packing loaded emotions despite their mellow levels.

Don't miss a beat with our FREE daily newsletter

Speaking of influences, they’re not overtly obvious, but they’re extremely well acknowledged. For anyone whose attention to emo has spanned past the mid-2000s, the progression from lighter, intimate and careful guitar work on ‘Long Hair’ to harder drums and guitars on titular track ‘Supersonic Home’ marks a parallel to the genre’s sentimental transitions. ‘Heavenly’ and ‘Pure’ basically summate the record: fragile and disaffected, yet impressively levelled.

'Supersonic Home' is affecting, multi-dimensional and stimulating. It’s the sort of album that grows on you, an indication that it has enough depth to keep you coming back. It's more than cute pop: this LP is raw emotion, subtle melancholy and harrowing instability compressed into a honey-smooth delivery. Emo enthusiasts: get on it.

1. Dream Blue Haze

2. Heavenly

3. Your Sweetness

4. My Marble Home

5. Pure

6. Absolution, Worth Requited

7. Walk You To Bed

8. Tension

9. Long Hair

10. Supersonic Home