Based in Istanbul, Turkey and made up of members of screamo bands like Ria and Jornada del Muerto, pembe (no capital letter) deliver their debut full length Yalniz Hissedersen via Mevzu Records, Khya Record and Beach Buddies Records on September 22nd. Opening the record with the atmospheric “Dünyayı Unuttum”, you could be fooled into thinking […]
Label: Mevzu Records, Khya Records, Beach Buddies Records
Based in Istanbul, Turkey and made up of members of screamo bands like Ria and Jornada del Muerto, pembe (no capital letter) deliver their debut full length Yalniz Hissedersen via Mevzu Records, Khya Record and Beach Buddies Records on September 22nd.
Opening the record with the atmospheric “Dünyayı Unuttum”, you could be fooled into thinking this record was a sedate and ethereal affair and although there is no shortage of soft, shoegazey textures on the record, this is only one aspect of their complex sound. Second track “Nedenler Bulunur” kicks things off proper with pounding punk pace and tortured howling vocals, before toning things right down again to make the next burst of energy that much more explosive.
The emotions run high throughout the record, but on “Ama Kalbim Bir Et Parçası Değil” in particular, when a solemn spoken passage builds with layers as more and more vocalists join in, peaking with an achingly intense emo choir of sorts belting out an anthemic climax, the atmosphere of ascension and bliss becomes quite breathtaking. Before any of the more sedate sections outstay their welcome another burst of speed and chaos blow away the cobwebs, like the opening section of “Yavaş Yavaş”, with beats and riffs that would spark mosh pits before ending with the serene choral gang vocals that pembe use so well and are probably their most unique identifying feature. Ending the record with “pembe”, a track that does well to sum up the feel of Yalnız Hissedersen, juxtaposing blast beats and screamo riffing with more introspective moments of beauty and ending with a cacophonous bow.
Throughout the record pembe blend the fast and slow, loud and quiet, scratchy screaming and melodious clean vocals, resulting in a really dynamically interesting listen, feeling more like a journey than a collection of unrelated songs. Some bands are happy to sit in one lane, and their attempts to expand their sonic pallet can unfortunately fail to deliver good results, but what’s impressive about pembe is while taking on so much, they manage to deliver each element to a high standard, never really sounding out of their depth while establishing a strong identity in the process.
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