Lesser Matters

by

The Radio Dept.

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With no previous knowledge of Sweden's The Radio Dept, I bought their album Lesser Matters after sampling the first 3 songs at a listening station. It has been one of my best music purchases in recent memory. I would define their music as dream pop. It has that ethereal sound. The vocals are distant, gentle and hushed at times.

An unusual aspect of The Radio Dept's music is the use of white noise/feedback in their songs. At first, some may find this somewhat off-putting or that it interferes with soft melodies of their songs. I did. After a few listens, however, I became accustomed to its presence and began to like it. It is effective and generally works well. It also gives their music a distinctive note.

The lyrics of Lesser Matters deal largely with loss, the end of relationships, and emotional distress. The song "It's Been Eight Years" with its lyrics "I never knew that good experiences could cause a pain like this. I want something I can't have," epitomize the tone of many of the songs. Despite the subject matter of some of the songs, the music isn't depressing. Not all of the songs have lyrics of doom and gloom either. In the song "1995", the singer looks back fondly on a that happy year while proclaiming "though I'm happier now."

Lesser Matters is a small, understated, emotive album. Those who are fans of the dream pop genre will have a great new addition to their collection and newcomers will get a great introduction.

I'm not sure where all the shoegaze comparisons are coming from, perhaps the closest would be the poppier side of the Boo Radleys, but 'Lesser Matters' is actually more along the lines of Broken Social Scene, trippy experimental rock. One one hand there's an ethereal/breezy quality typical of shoegaze bands, eg, Slowdive. But on the otherhand, there's an interesting combination of Pet Sounds-like experimentalism and psychadelic-laced electronica, eg, Prefuse 73, Manitoba. If anything, 'Lesser Matters' meets Badly Drawn Boy with electronica, still breezy, still unique, with a sonic soundscape vibe that the Swedes are good at.