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May 22, 2023bar italia unravels the sprawling and playful, yet concerted, development of their sound. Largely abandoning the sketchy, diaristic transitions and abrupt ends so characteristic of their previous sound—and World Music acts, generally—’Tracey Denim’ progresses with relative sonic coherence.
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Jun 9, 2023Is it a sleek and assured Euro-pop stylist or a morose, sardonic realist, messy and desperate and unsatisfied with the way things are? It is both, sometimes simultaneously. The mix of poise and scruffiness fluctuates continually. .... The point is that there’s plenty of lounge-y, jazzy pop here, but it’s most affecting when it twists slightly off true.
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May 19, 2023At once intricate and tossed-off, passionate and aloof, Tracey Denim's seeming contradictions and haunting mood elevate bar italia amongst their post-punk reviving peers. It's an album that's complex enough for fans of the band's previous work, and just welcoming enough for a wider audience.
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May 18, 2023The 15 impressively arranged tracks on ‘Tracey Denim’ will only bolster Bar Italia’s discography to date, ushering them, whether they like it or not, even further into the spotlight.
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May 17, 2023Tracey Denim manages that difficult task, of creating an album that feels like a self-contained world without losing sight of songs that really work in and of themselves.
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May 17, 2023It’s refreshing then that their music comes without a prescribed meaning being spoon-fed to listeners. This allows the listener to come to their own conclusions.
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May 17, 2023From the ghostly mid-tempo beauty of tracks like Missus Morality and my kiss era, to lead single Nurse!, bar italia demonstrate how to be complex and seductive, without ever feeling pretentious.
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May 30, 2023The album mostly screams avant-garde in its minimalism, sometimes to its detriment, but there's no denying they have the talent to justify the mystery they've built.
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UncutMay 17, 2023At 15 tracks it rather drags its anchor, but there's much promise here. [Jul 2023, p.23]
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May 24, 2023For decades, this kind of shambolic aesthetic has signified immediacy over virtuosity, heart over chops. But it’s hard not to be distracted by the moments when the lyrics fall flat or the singing goes awry. Their chord progressions are smart and the production is appealing, but neither is enough to carry the record on its own.
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May 30, 2023Ultimately, Tracey Denim lives and thrives in the shadows of past greats, but is unable to escape them.
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MojoMay 17, 2023The interplay between their vocals is tense and compelling, suggesting early Blonde Redhead. Their lyrics, meanwhile, are mysterious knots of angst. [Jul 2023, p.87]