| Portugal.The Man - In The Mountain In The Cloud |
| Written by Cecily Van Horn | |||
| Wednesday, 19 October 2011 09:20 | |||
 In The Mountain In The Cloud is the debut release for Portugal. The Man on Atlantic Records. The eleven-track masterpiece was set loose to the music-loving masses on July 19, 2011. For those you have never heard their music before the album is a great introduction to their serious musical talents and is bound to have you downloading all their previous works along with this one. In a nutshell, their music is outstanding and possibly the best thing out there in the musical scene right now. If you don't believe me...give it a listen and you'll see that I am not lying.
"So American" opens the album with a mellow soft psychedelic rhythm. The musical composition is nicely balanced with the lyrics and it is definitely a nice choice to start off the new album.
Their next track, "Floating (Time Isn't Working On My Side)" continues with a similar beat to the previous song. Again they have mastered an incredible balance between the instrumentals and lyrics. The drum lines are quite stellar throughout this track and the vocals are truly outstanding as well. The lyrics are bound to make you feel empathy for the struggles that this poor guy faces.
The album picks up a funkier beat with "Got It All (This Can't Be Living Now). In contrast to the previous song the lyrics are more upbeat. The musical composition is yet again outstanding simply demonstrating how kick-ass these guys are as a band.
If "Senseless" doesn't rev your musical engines all you psychedelic genre fan then honestly I don't know what will. The electric guitar riffs, the bass, the drum lines, and subtle piano riffs all come together quite fantastically and are bound to leave you hitting the 'repeat play' button. Same goes for "Head Is A Flame (Cool With It) because it is yet another great track on the album.
"You Carried Us (Share With Me The Sun)" is the mid-way to this seriously awesome album. The beats will have you tapping any hard surface to their great music. The lyrics are upbeat and happy and are bound to stick in your musical psyche (well at least they were stuck in my head for weeks after listening to it).
The seventh track, "Everything You See (Kids Count Hallelujahs)" continues the absolutely incredibleness that is In The Mountain In The Cloud. This track is my personal favourite on the album and truly displays a beautiful labour of their love for making music.
"All Your Light (Times Like These)" starts off with a more serious tone than the other tracks. It startled me at first because it was slightly unexpected however after a few seconds my foot automatically regained its tapping under my desk.
The album returns to a slower, mellower pace with "Once Was One." The lyrics are slightly humoristic and speak about life and growing up. It is a nice contrast to the previous track and compliments the overall album quite sweetly.
"Share With Me The Sun" is a remixed version of the sixth track on the album. At first I found it strange that it would be included on the same as album, however after listening to it as usual I was blown away by the band's serious musical abilities. I struggled to decide which version that I preferred and honestly I couldn't because both offer great things. However, I did especially like the fading effect they used on the end of this track because it is a skilful segway into the last track.
"Sleep Forever" is a beautiful track that ends the album with a jaw dropping amount of musical talent. It is my favourite track on the new album which was another tough choice to make because honestly there isn't one song on here that I would consider to be a 'time-filling crap song.' In fact that is one thing that I absolutely loved about this one; each song is carefully chosen to demonstrate how talented these dudes are and if you are just becoming a fan of Portugal. The Man I hope you enjoy them for many more albums to come.
Without a moment of doubt, the album deserves nothing less than a solid 9.5 out of 10. Cannot wait to hear what these stellar dudes do next, guess I'll have to patiently wait for their next release...hope it won't take too long.
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