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The floodgates have been opened on the Happy submissions page, and there has been a lot of great music popping up. One that is a cut above the rest is the spacey and pensive Face to Face from Sydney new comers Two Age.
Sydney band Two Age come face to face with anxiety on their stunning debut. With slick production and crisp vocals they’ve knocked it outta the park.
Okay, perhaps a better description than ‘newcomers’ is needed for Two Age, especially on this site. These guys are fresh, like the feeling of wearing toasty socks that have just come out of the dryer on a cold day. The band earned their stripes playing Falls Festival last year and selling out their own headline show at OAF. For a young band they’re doing a lot of things right. Face to Face certainly draws upon music that has come before, the detached vocals and psych tinged rock with a hint of electronica is a sound that is prevalent in the current musical landscape. Yet instead of sounding derivative the band manage to make it their own in a breezy five minutes. To put it simply the boys have knocked it out of the park.
It helps having producer Tim Powles, known for his work with The Church and Regular John working behind the scenes. There’s a lot going on within the space of five minutes on Face to Face but under Tim’s watchful eye everything stays in it’s place to become an intricate, patient track.
From the get go the most engaging part of Face to Face is the vocals. It’s a lot like that of Jack Ladder, not that it is deep in a suspiciously arousing way like his, but that it is crisp and clear. The lyrics are easily made out, and when half the bands out there take to mumbling their words it’s vocals like this that really strike out to a listener. The vocals are soft and comforting as they ease their way into your brain settling in nice and snug*. As the track amps up towards the final chorus it’s given a more prominent psych reverb and begin to echo creating a sense of drama and intensity.
Given the subject matter of the lyrics it makes perfect sense. Speaking on the meaning behind the Face to Face James from the band said “The track’s about youth and being handed all these of opportunities, but you’re overwhelmed and consequently you don’t reach out and take any of them”. Thematically the music does the message of the track justice, its slow burn nature capturing the essence of anxiety. You’d think an anxious track would be a bit more erratic, but the truth is anxiety is something that creeps up on a person slowly chipping away at their resolve.
Two Age have done a great work translating the complexities of those feelings to tape, and have crafted a debut single that shows a band who have exponential promise.
*Ed: Are you on smack?
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