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Disconnect from Desire - School of Seven Bells
Disconnect from Desire Image
Metascore
69 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 24 Critics What's this?

User Score
6.8 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Band members: Alejandra De Heza, Claudia Deheza, Benjamin Curtis
  • Summary: On their second album, School of Seven Bells cast themselves as an update of a specific kind of misfit band. Alpinisms reconstituted late-’80/early-‘90s shoegaze. Disconnect from Desire, however, updates the sound of a kind of band that would have opened for Peter Gabriel and Eurythmics, or or headlined over Revolver, rather than tour with the likes of Lush, Ride, and Pale Saints. Here, a focused songcraft and central placement of the Deheza twins’ alluring vocals -- which tend to be lower and more earthly than they were on the debut -- disallow School of Seven Bells from being squarely shoegaze. At the same time, the band is too left of center, too odd, to be considered anywhere near the mainstream. Their cleaner, less wispy, more muscular sound, combined with more traditional songwriting, is not that radical a change. It’s closer to a slight shift that registers after a couple spins, once it becomes apparent that deeply emotive and relatively sparse songs like “I L U,” “Joviann,” and “The Wait” would have made excellent tracks buried throughout Sire’s Just Say series. They have shoegaze lyric-generator staples like wind, waves, ocean, storms, and even talk of “slipping away.” And yet, the words are not merely functional, written solely for the sake of complementing the sound as an additional instrument. They’re either poetically vague or vaguely poetic -- stuff like “Let me will the dial to turn and gild the air with silver pearls of rain” and “When’s the wait a cradle in which you’re lulled from time to time, soundly spun into an insensate lie.” The thicker, more driving songs resemble a polished, warm Curve, whipping up squalls of noise over robust played-and-programmed rhythms that soar more often than batter. No matter the amount of layering, not a single element is obscured. This vivid directness suits them very well. ~ Andy Kellman… Expand
  • Record Label: Vagrant
  • Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock, Indie Rock, Indie Electronic, Dream Pop
  • More Details and Credits »

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 24
  3. Negative: 0 out of 24
  1. Billboard.com
    90
    For the listener, disconnecting will be all but impossible.
  2. Hot Press
    90
    Stop me if you think you've heard this one before.
  3. Clash Music
    60
    For all its forward thinking, the combination of shoe-gaze and synthy electronica leads the record inevitably back to the 1980s, mirroring the haunting sound that M83 have perfected so well.

See all 24 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. hydrawithears
    8
    On their second album SVIIB abandon the world music references and move towards dream pop. I respect that conscious decision even if it means Disconnect from Desire sounds less exciting than Alpinisms. Nevertheless, this is SVIIB we are talking about - Desire offers some awesome moments. Dust Devil is an indie electronic masterwork as precise as it is hypnotic. In Bye Bye Bye the Deheza twins excel themselves and reach for the moon. The whole album is very solid for SVIIB derive from whatâs the best in shoegaze and ethereal music tradition. For those missing the bandâs old sound Babelonia will be a must-hear. To sum up, Disconnect from Desire is a dreamy gem interrupted by some glistening synths.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. oceanofnoise
    4
    Negative critics are on the money. Something is missing. I rate by will I like this in one year, 10 years, 50 years. This music is so forgettable. Best tracks ( I L U, Windstorm)… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes

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