School of Seven Bells Disconnect From Desire

I'm going to cut to the chase with School of Seven Bells. To put it simply, Disconnect From Desire is truly an incredible album. This is like hearing an updated Stereolab let loose in a post shoegazing electronics warehouse with the songs you've always imagined coming to fruition. Spacey, organic, and seemlingly destined to go on forever, the School of Seven Bells create incessant swirling songs of seismic sonic shifts that are so graceful and filled with glee that you can't help but be mesmerized by them.

If dream pop died somewhere around 1993 and was buried by NME in 1994 someone clearly forgot to send School of Seven Bells the memo. Put it this way, Disconnect From Desire is so rooted in shoegazing that you would almost swear that this record is seventeen years old and quite honestly this isn't a bad thing as a record this blindingly good manages to overcome all obstacles including the space time continuum with relative ease. Layering electronics amongst a sea of instrumentation, Disconnect From Desire does anything but disconnect from the listener. Instead, this record wraps its arms around you and swings you around in a sunshiny swirl that's covered in Balearic beats, intelligent lyrics, and an artsy approach that will take over your mind.

Disconnect From Desire is a glistening album of guitars, synths, soaring vocals and songs that are steeped in mysticism and magic but are always aware of a need for pop sensibility. You know exactly where School of Seven Bells are coming from if you can imagine Stereolab in a head on collision with someone like Single Gun Theory or even Curve. From the nearly My Bloody Valentine guitar dives of, "I L U," to the speedy post-shoegazing dance pop stormer, "Dust Devil," nothing about Disconnect From Desire would suggest mediocrity. This is a magnificent and majestic record that's like listening to a flood of memories crashing inside of your brain. Nearly perfect and packed with amazing song after amazing song, Disconnect From Desire is truly an impressive effort and easily one of the best things I've heard this year. Dreams have never sounded so good and thanks to School of Seven Bells they now have a perpetual soundtrack.