GRMLN - Soon Away

Penned between Park’s native Japan and on the road in the US, it’s a record set against a backdrop of the identity issues brought upon anyone of dual heritage. It feels as if this was an opportunity to explore adolescence from a perspective missed out on whilst Park was making music for top-down Californian drives, and ‘Soon Away’ brings to life those pent-up adolescent frustrations that once longed for a platform like this.

When opener ‘Jaded’ lands, you feel like GRMLN have found their calling. The boisterous opening hook smacks right in the face before subsiding as vocals enter the fray, fighting rebelliously through the distortion. The fittingly anthemic chorus of “Go, go, go outside, be the one you want”, is as repeatable as it is rebellious, channelling the same sort of scuzzy angst that once had people taking note of Carpark’s label pin ups, Cloud Nothings.

It’s unfortunate then that GRMLN sound as assured in these opening moments as they do for the remaining thirty-six minutes of the record. Whilst there are scattered glimpses of the opener’s bite, for large parts ‘Soon Away’ feels as if it’s going through the motions, striking as laboured and somewhat unimaginative. The punchiness that exuded from ‘Empire’, where tracks tended to weigh in at around the three minutes thirty mark, is felt dripping away as more expansive attempts such as ‘White Lung/Black Lung’ and ‘Of Nothing’ do little more than linger unimaginatively.

The teachings of Krishna are said to have inspired Park’s craft on this record, but a search for spiritualism leaves behind a gaping void, one that cries out for vigour and invention. ‘Jaded’ undoubtedly brings with it a glimmer of hope in an album that ultimately comes up short in delivering the fusion of intensity and melody that has served GRMLN so well before.

Tags: GRMLN, Reviews, Album Reviews