“James Bond” is the latest full-length album by Kitty Solaris, an outstanding Berlin-based singer-songwriter. This material serves as an adequate follow-up of “Girls & Music,” another excellent album released last year. However, it also carries many innovations in writing, composing, arranging, and producing. Soundwise, Kitty Solaris embraces many different but complementary music genres to illustrate such rich and luxurious sonic imagery. Perhaps indie comes to mind first, but you’ll notice how some of the finest ingredients are borrowed from dream pop, shoegaze, synth pop, synth wave, new wave, electronic music, etc. Each element plays a significant role in this sonic equation by enhancing, accentuating, or decorating particular segments or entire songs. Every track arrives with a fresh, unique, and innovative sonic display of her abilities as a songwriter, composer, and musician. Also, it’s good to mention that every track has a different mood and ambiance, but together, these ten compositions work as a cohesive whole.
The diversity of this material is vividly hearable from scratch to finish. You’ll notice how the introductory piece like the title track shines with calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal vibes, often hearable in dream pop, shoegaze, goth, or post-punk music, while the following track, “Follow The Beatniks”, goes down the straightforward dream pop sound mixed with elements of indie and contemporary pop. Kitty Solaris makes things even more interesting with “Go With Flow,” an exceptional number that presents her shoegaze side. She also levitates between different eras, so tracks like “Lights Out” follow modern indie sound while a song like “Peace Train” pays homage to the eighties and nineties indie, alternative, and shoegaze scenes. “Spring In Air” calms things down with its nearly psychedelic ambiance where all the instrumentations deliver fresh vibes. “Ayahuasca” explores some synth pop, synth wave, and new wave aesthetics through cleverly assembled synths and keys while “Johnny And Mary” does the same by providing a nostalgic, late seventies and early eighties synth-pop sound. “Heroes” is another standout of this material, offering more modern and retro indie maneuvers and showcasing Kitty Solaris’s diverse sonic palette. The song finishes with a single version of the title track, equally good as the original.
Kitty Solaris’ vocal performance shines brightly throughout the entire album. You’ll hear how her impressive vocal range seamlessly balances between low, mid, and high notes while commanding attention and guiding the listening apparatus during every moment. She conveys lyrics with confidence, sincerity, and emotion, ensuring that the listeners are engaged on this ear-appealing sonic journey from scratch to finish. The synths play a significant role here, as they shape an adequate backdrop for all the vocal maneuvers to shine upon. The interplay between various layers creates a cathartic ambiance that will satisfy even the pickiest listeners to spin this material over and over again. The comprehensive collection of themes, leads, melodies, harmonies, and other sonic maneuvers is solely responsible for all that catchy, engaging, and memorable sound that comes from all possible sides all the time. There are also some chord progressions and riffs delivered on guitar that contribute to the richness and complexity of the material. In the meantime, the equally complex, vividly hearable, warm-sounding basslines roar beneath all those synth layers, offering more than necessary heaviness, depth, and clarity while binding all the orchestrations with the drums. The drumming patterns propel these songs to new heights with flawlessly arranged, well-accentuated beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics. Each instrument sounds superb, ensuring nothing but a pleasant listening experience.
“James Bond” is a marvelous album that showcases the brilliance of Kitty Solaris. Her music resonates with otherwordly ambiance, achieved by stacking many impressive vocal, sonic, and layers. It’s a treat for your ears that will easily become one of the favorites in your music collection. Head to Solaris Empire page for more information about ordering.
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