Living The Dream

Description

For their highly anticipated third album, the Parisian trio Howlin' Jaws teams up with Swedish director Kalle Gustafsson Jerneholm (bassist of The Soundtrack Of Our Lives and producer for Foals, The Hives, José Gonzalez, and Junip) and takes a significant leap, affirming the universal reach of their explosive and elegant psych-rock. This new album Living The Dream crystallizes nearly everything we once fantasized about hearing from Howlin' Jaws. Their dreams here more than ever embrace unifying choruses, transforming grief ("Troubled Mind") or separation ("Do What You Gonna Do," "So Sorry") into genuine bursts of hope. Rich in seasoning (omnichord and mellotron weave their way into the enchanting "Miss You" and the twilight "Up On The Roof") and in irony (led by the biting "Living The Dream"), the eleven-track album is also diverse in its influences. Disco hovers over "Terminal Buzz," country seeps into "Sunset Laundromat," while the fiery "Maximum Speed" joyfully recalls the hallucinatory flights of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. Impressive in urgency, the trio is equally so when they ease the tempo. Behind its cosmic keyboard layers, "Time Has Come" immediately sets the scene and subtly invites introspection. Like an echo at the end of the journey, "That Kind of Pain" brushes against the stars of French Touch (Air school), allowing the strings of the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra to emerge amidst its melancholic swells. All in all, whether cooking up their records like an omelet or beef bourguignon, Howlin' Jaws proves they are never short on imagination.