Luxembourg’s finest post-hardcore outlet Pleasing is back with another fine piece of sonic artistry that will unquestionably indulge listening apparatuses of all those music enthusiasts looking for cleverly assembled and flawlessly performed music. Consisting of four catchy, memorable, engaging compositions, “for us to feel lonely” is an exploration into themes of love, hope, various sentiments, moods, situations, and circumstances. It’s a highly relatable material that will undoubtedly appeal to the broader auditorium. Pleasing is one of those acts that never relies upon a singular music genre. Quite the contrary, it’s always about several different but somehow complementary styles, articulating together harmoniously in creating luxuriant sonic imagery that defines this sonic outlet. Post-hardcore might be a starting point that defines the primary sonic direction in one form or another, but there are plenty of other music genres lurking around. You’ll notice how some of the finest sonic ingredients borrowed from post-rock, alternative, indie, and emo found their way into this sonic equation, but don’t be surprised if you find out more along the way. Pleasing uses all these additional styles to enhance, accentuate, and decorate this marvelous material to new heights without ever straying from the primary sonic direction. Therefore, these experimentations with many different but complementary music genres showcase his desire to break all the conventional rules, shapeshift the boundaries, and push his sound forward as much as possible. He ultimately succeeded in his intentions, offering four excellent songs worth repeating over and over again.
Each composition arrives as a multilayered sonic experience that acts as an adequate showcase of how much heart and soul Pleasing poured into “for us to feel lonely.” Every track carries a perfect structure, garnered with many profoundly detailed segments, brilliant ideas, and outstanding orchestration. Each vocal, sonic, and rhythmic maneuver has its place and purpose in this sonic equation, making “for us to feel lonely” such a pleasant listening experience worth repeating over and over again. Pleasing’s music might showcase the fresh, unique, exciting, improved face of post-hardcore music, but you’ll also notice how he pays homage to the late nineties and early noughties scene. The ambiance in these tracks continuously levitates between the future, present, and past, constructing a complex soundscape where emotion, tension, and power collide harmoniously. Pleasing’s storytelling lyricism is the sole core here, as he navigates through life’s important questions, various emotions, and situations with such passion, sincerity, honesty, and power. His voice continuously balances low, mid, and high notes with such precision and finesse, demonstrating his impressive vocal range. The artist doesn’t shy away from the fact that his clean vocals, shouts, and screams sound equally good, so he uses all these techniques to elevate these songs to new heights. Therefore, these vocal harmonies sound divine from scratch to finish, decorating and emphasizing all those segments and instrumentations to the max.
The guitars play a significant role in shaping a perfect backdrop for all those vocal harmonies to shine upon. Pleasing carefully and thoughtfully constructed interplays between rhythm and lead guitars, building a luxuriant soundscape that continuously floats between calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal moments and raw, aggressive, gritty, heavy, and powerful segments. The intensity or calmness of these sonic landscapes depends on the current mood and situation, but they always sound intricate. You’ll notice how all those catchy, memorable, engaging themes, melodies, harmonies, and other sonic harmonies shine while the delicate chord progressions and riffs resonate with each other. It’s a carefully constructed auditory experience that undoubtedly makes this material so hypnotic, addictive, and irresistible. Of course, Pleasing also thought about the rhythm section as well, so you’ll stumble upon many incredible low-ends and rhythmic patterns that deserve praise. There are equally intricate, audible, warm-sounding basslines rumbling right beneath all those guitar layers, offering more than necessary heaviness, clarity, and depth while binding all those orchestrations with rhythmic sequences. In the meantime, the entire collection of tastefully assembled, expertly performed, well-accentuated, dynamic, energetic, groovy beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics keeps the remainder of instrumentations in line while dictating groove and pace. Pleasing thought about everything while writing, composing, arranging, recording, and producing these four songs, so if the guitars and keys act as a perfect backdrop for all those vocals to shine upon, then the bass and drums serve as a backbone, holding everything together.
You should immediately place “for us to feel lonely” on your listening radar if you’re looking for perfect modern post-hardcore music. Pleasing proved once again that he’s one of the finest songwriters and musicians the European post-hardcore scene has to offer. With these emotional, meaningful, and powerful tracks, Pleasing paves his way to the top, and you should immediately check “for us to feel lonely” EP because there are high chances you’ll place this material as one of your favorites this year.
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