Homeshake: Fresh Air Review

By Brooke Vega
Music Journalist

Artist: Homeshake
Album: Fresh Air
Release Date: February 3, 2017
Website: https://homeshake.bandcamp.com/

Former Mac Demarco guitarist, Peter Sager, is an independent artist known as Homeshake. He is under a record label with Sinderlyn Records in Brooklyn, New York. The long wait for another album from this musical genius has come to an end, and I must say… it does not disappoint! With Sager’s past history, there is definitely a hint of Demarco’s psychedelic/jangle-pop along with his own unique slacker-rock style. Given his music history, a transition is definitely noticeable in his first two self-released tapes, the first two albums: In the Shower and Midnight Snack and now Fresh Air. With guitar and synths being the norm in his songs, it seems that he mostly worked with synths in this album; the beats consist of having more instrumentals with soft and melancholic tones along with fast-tempo r&b sounds.

Fresh Air is Homeshake’s third full-length album, consisting of 14 songs. Comparing this album to Sager’s two previous albums, he seems to be gathering up more of his own style. He’s taking baby-steps away from the Demarco noise by sparking up these songs with 90’s R&B sounds .The album gets listeners ready by starting off with a smooth warm instrumental called, “Hello Welcome.” Songs like “Call Me Up” and “Khmlwugh” have more of a fast tempo that definitely keep ears tuned in; these two along with “Not U” (which is more of a slow one) are my top three favorites. Towards the end of the album, Sager cools off listeners with “Fresh Air,” which is composed of different sounds of air and soft ambient noises. Sager finishes off the album with a short 14 second farewell goodbye called “Signing Off.” The 90’s R&B style along with the dreamy/slacker-rock is what makes this new album really interesting.

To wrap it up, if you are a Mac Demarco fan, odds are that Homeshake’s tunes are right up your alley. After listening to Fresh Air, I realized the title really lives up to it’s name; the smoothness of the songs are relaxing after a long day, it’s actually like a breath of fresh air. Thankfully Sager has left fans occupied with some great jams even if it takes him another year and a half to release some new music! This Montreal-based musician will be doing a few U.S. shows in the next couple of months before heading across the waters in May for a European tour. I have my fingers crossed that Sager will make his way down to Austin and surprise fans with performances at South By Southwest.