Beacon: Escapements Review

By Denise Marrufo
Music Journalist

Artist: Beacon
Album: Escapements
Label: Ghostly
Release Date: February 5, 2016
Website: www.beaconband.nyc

Beacon are a two piece electronic duo from New York City. With Escapements, they give us music to dance to and also music to ponder over. The opening track, “I’m U,” sets the tone of the album; a melancholy journey, trying to find answers to questions not specified. From the get go, the vocalist familiarizes us with his whispery, vulnerable vocals that he uses throughout this project. Starting off slowly, the song finally builds on its puzzling synth riff and pleasantly explodes at the end. Backbone is a low­key groove that is probably one of the better tracks on this LP. One of the things this track shows is that the groove of the dance track can easily turn into a haunting sound, which Beacon tends to go back and forth with. With lyrics like “There is No Escape,” “There’s No Way Around It” can either mean good or bad, as the instrumentals have dual feelings attached to them.

Most of the tracks have a similar formula; usually a synth groove backed by precise, timely percussion, and they usually end in a breakdown of some sort. The album is really cohesive, but surprisingly that’s the problem. Many of these tracks sound too alike; the songs melt into each other, and the style isn’t really varied. Also, the vocals on this project are underwhelming. Some lyrics are incomprehensible due to the singer’s whispered vocals and none of the vocal melodies stand out on their own.

All in all, this album was not a bad listen even though you do have to have the will to sit through a lot of the same stuff. The feel of these tracks make for decent atmospheric music, but none of it will be on repeat. It’s nothing that I would want to listen to on a consistent basis.