Search “Chill Playlist” on Spotify or SoundCloud and you’ll come across Odesza. If you’ve never heard of Odesza, I highly recommend listening to their previous songs and albums. Songs such as How Did I Get Here, Say My Name (feat. Zara) and All We Need (feat. Shy Girls) (just to name a few) make you feel relaxed and in a state of pure bliss. As well as their remix of Something About You by Hayden James that puts you right in the feels. Their previous work has earned Odesza a special place in our hearts and our playlists. It has been three years since they released an album, so there was no telling in what direction their sound was going.
The Release
When A Moment Apart was released, I instantly saved it on Spotify so I could listen to it all day. After listening all the way through once, I knew I wanted to make it my first album review. I remember texting my friend and just gushing about how incredible this album was. I’m not going to go super detailed into the “nitty-gritty”of this album because you should also give this album a listen (if you haven’t already). This review is merely how it made me feel and some key highlights that I feel are important to note.
Overview
Overall this album is different from the Odesza sound I mentioned above, not that different is bad. It is their sound, but a lot more matured. What you’d expect from a third album as they evolve in their musical journey. The single releases of “Line of Sight”, “Corners of the Earth”, “Higher Ground”, “Late Night” and “Meridian”, gave us a taste of what to expect in this album. With the full album release, I understood better how all the singles fit in the grand scheme of things. I could cohesively put the songs together and go this journey curated by Odesza.
The Songs
Each song is so perfectly curated to blend from one song to the next. It doesn’t necessarily tell a story, but has cinematic overtones of love, failure in love and life, uncertainty and coming together. The short “Intro” transitions flawlessly into the epic feeling of the song “A Moment Apart” to truly open up the album and invite you. There are traces of what Odesza does so well at by crafting songs with no lyrics. Yet, has simple indiscernible vocal notes repeated. This is heard in the opening song as well as “Boy”, “Late Night” and others. These songs balance out the songs with lyrics and act as bright and tranquil breaks between the songs with singing and lyrics. Some of the gems from this album also lie in the collaborations Odesza did:
- “Everything At Your Feet” with The Chamanas features Spanish-language vocals which I was pleasantly surprised by. As beautiful as the lyrics are, when translated into English can hold a deeper meaning for many of loving someone and putting so much energy into it while feeling nothing but pain caused by the person you love. Odesza is able to take the pain in those words and make it beautiful as a way of moving forward rather than letting the pain hold you back.
- “Just a Memory” with Regina Spektor is a personal favorite of mine as she is one of my favorite artists. The longing in this song to keep a love alive makes the song so vulnerable. I think anyone can relate to a moment they were ever in a standstill with a love. It is a very simplistic song but has so much vulnerability to it.
Finally, to finish the album “Corners of the Earth” feat. RY X has the same epic feeling of the first song “A Moment Apart” with a dramatic beginning and voices coming together in unison. This end to an album signifies the ones you love coming together and emphasizing the power of love. The album feels complete as it ends with the same faint sound you hear in the intro. Making the album come full circle.
For a brief moment with this album, you are able to be in Odesza’s minds and live through what they have worked so hard on for the past three years. By maturing their sound and expanding on collaborations, it feels more cohesive and creates imagery even on the songs with little to no vocals. I can best describe this album as tranquil paradise. Looking forward to when I can see this album performed live. The last time I saw them play live was at one of my first shows Decadence Arizona 2015. I am excited to see how this album looks and feels live.
You can read more about the A Moment Apart from an interview Odesza did with Billboard here.
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Listen to A Moment Apart by Odesza:
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