Melodyssey - The Two Windows (Album)
Melodyssey say that during the making of The Two Windows they were on an all time high, both creatively and personally.
Lauren Clair says that this release is generic, derivative and yawn-worthy and suggest that if this is an 'all time high' for the band, they should give some thought to giving up now.
I've been racking my brains trying to think of a polite way to let you know that this band is comprised of four people who live in Brisbane. In fact, I've been desperately trying to tell you this information in a way that isn't offensive to anyone, because I don't actually hate things from Brisbane by default. Hell, I have even met one or two decent folk from Queensland. I can honestly say that there are definitely a few charming and talented people residing along the upper east coast line of Australia. But I gotta tell you, gentle Dwarf readers, they aren't residing in this band.
I'm sure that Lance, Clint, Luke and Daniel are nice boys, but as far as talent goes... I would be very surprised if there was anything on this record that wasn't straight out of the 'Cog&Karnivool guide to being a Triple J wonder band.' and, as you'll see, the problem with ripping off current acts is that people are going to notice.
It certainly hasn't helped that they got Forrester Savell on board to not only engineer this record, but to mix, master and produce the damn thing as well. Knowing that, I could give this band the benefit of the doubt and assume they sounded a little more unique before Forrester got his hands all over it, but then we get into a whole chicken and the egg debate and things get way too philosophical. Not being a woman who is particularly keen to start waxing philosophical at you, I will assume that this is simply not the case and the band have always sounded this boring and derivative. What I can tell you with some certainty, is that the ten songs on The Two Windows will offer your ears nothing that that hasn't been offered to them before.
As far as the sound they are aiming for goes, they hit the mark. It is, for all intents and purposes, a reasonably well-produced body of work. There has obviously been some money thrown around to get this out. The packaging is nice. The theme of lines and silhouettes of trees throughout the cover art and booklet is nice. The fact that they thank their four 'beautiful girlfriends' is very nice for the girlfriends, I'm sure. The fact that this is such a generic release is not nice, it's infuriating. For a band who are into their eighth year, surely they would have developed some unique and interesting facets to their style or just given it up already, but no. So join me in giving it up for Melodyssey who seem to just keep plugging away, even after a fighting a “two year battle” only to find (according to the band's MySpace profile) “...a market so cautious and scared into submission by illegal downloads and a downturn in market profits that the offers (for a record deal) didn’t come at all.”
