This morning I woke up and put my iTunes library on shuffle. What I got was "Reviews" by Tancred. The penultimate track on Tancred's second album Nightstand has provided the opening feelings for my day.
A quick stretch to get myself limber and more awake, followed by the connecting of my phone to the stereo made my morning routine feel more purposeful. A highlight of the album, in my opinion, "Reviews" saunters its way into the room with a catchy guitar strum and Tancred's innocent voice painting the story's picture. The beat comes in and the drums and bass make the mood settle like a warm fog that blankets the ground but doesn't obstruct your view. I enjoy the song structures on this album along with the complex, but also simple ideas conveyed by Tancred's lyrics.
Surprising, the first things I hear when I listen to music are the beat, the instruments, and the cadences. As a writer I can appreciate the stories and lyrics, whether they be silly or serious, but these come last in my consideration of a good song. I am musically driven, especially on the low end. A drummer in my own respects, I focus on the beat and how it drives a song, is held out from a song, or how it changes and manipulates an otherwise simple idea and makes it extraordinary. My ignited passion for Tancred stems from the band's incredible ability to deliver fresh and new themes, melodies, and structures that, at their core, are surprisingly simple.
I came to a realization last year that some of my favorite songs, or songs that stood out to me the most, were in different time signatures that strayed away from the norm. This made my brain think and perk up without me even realizing why it was happening. While Tancred's songs are not out of the ordinary for time signatures, their song's grasp my attention with what seems like perfect mixing, timing, and tones. There are a lot of things that can go right in a song: a million different tones that someone can use for their guitar sound. Tancred has a knack for choosing the right sounds to fit my, a numerous other's, specific wavelength.
My love for Tancred started, how I assume a lot of new music tastes begin these days, with a Spotify Monday morning "For You" playlist. "Bed Case" got me hooked on these catchy pop tunes driven by upbeat guitar and some aesthetically pleasing drum parts. A good song captures my attention immediately and 100% of the time Tancred has my ear and my mind on a hook.
While "Reviews" is a hit on the group's sophomore album, the rest of the effort is an tonally beautiful trip to embark on. Listening as a whole does what all great albums do as it moves up and down weaving itself through emotions and transitioning perfectly through emotions and ideas.
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