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Song of the Day: Bliss Fields, “Satisfy,” from Slowly, Forever (Acrobat Unstable, 2022)

It looks like Toronto quintet Bliss Fields has been around for at least a few years now. They released an EP last summer (which I haven't heard yet), and I guess this full-length just came out a few weeks ago. I first came across the band earlier this week because Onsloow re-shared something about Slowly, Forever in an Instagram story and the cover art caught my eye, so I went and looked it up on Bandcamp and was very pleasantly surprised.

It's kind of a line-walking blend of shoegaze and dreamy jangle pop, but tends to have more zip 'n' zest to it as a whole. Sure, there are definitely a lot of slow, droning passages that dwell in somber atmospheres, but nothing feels overly restrained or bland. Most of the songs are in the two- to four-minute range, and occasionally swell toward the mid-paced throb of grungy alternative rock with dashes of heaviness and/or post-hardcore accoutrements.

Something else that's cool is that the super dense bass tone plays a huge role in the mix. The drums and vocals are nestled in properly, too, in fact. Thus, there's not a tidal wave of effects-laden guitars washing over everything—and that's saying something, 'cause I think three of the band members play guitar!

"Satisfy" is one of the big winners for me. Certainly amongst the fastest-paced compositions, it's also one of the few tracks where lead vocals are handled by the second vocalist. But, if you need more proof, check out stuff like "Sleep" or the title track (to cite but two).

Vinyl pre-orders for Slowly, Forever are available straight from the label, and Bandcamp will cover your digital needs. If you're an unwittingly "evil" music fan who prefers to stream your tunes through the wonders of technology, I suppose you can fire up Spotify and enjoy the album there as well. I'm telling you, though, that rainbow splatter vinyl looks freakin' beautiful, so... how could you pass that up!?

P.S. I'm not familiar with the Acrobat Unstable label, but based on a quick skimming of their recent output, I need to dig deeper—and soon. Looks like they might have been stacking up quite a few promising releases...