Surrounded - Safety In Numbers

If you strung together forty-seven minutes of faded, cracked 8mm film of landscapes and other outdoor scenes, you would have the perfect video compliment to Surrounded’s Safety in Numbers. The lingering songs are backed by slight filmic samples and orchestra-esque instrumentation that gives it an aged, full feel. This consistently thick atmosphere makes it a very strong album, though the songs don’t fair as well individually. The traditional instruments, such as cellos, violas, and flutes enhance the antique feel of the album, and serve as a warm compliment to the somewhat distracting vocals; the vocals are more of a whispering than singing, which works now and again but gets worn out after a few songs. I wish that Marten Rydell, lead vocalist, would take a tip from Tricky, who enhances his own whispery vocals with a female counterpart. Not to say that the vocals are bad - to each his own - but I feel like it needn’t be such a singular, exasperating style. I realize that it’s a staple indie-rock thing to incorporate a guest female vocalist, but I think it would really finalize Surrounded’s otherwise mature sound. The music combines wind and string instruments, well-placed ambient samples, and beautifully incorporated keyboards, to the otherwise traditional drums, guitar, and vocals. The balance between the natural instruments and the digital synths and sampling comes off as a very well mixed and pleasant listen. However, I would prefer if the drums weren’t as sparse, and carried the same perfected and unique quality that the other areas have. The nearly non-existent bass is also annoying; louder bass would support the vocals better and round the album’s sonics out a little bit. This is, of course, just my preference, and anything negative I have said is simply due to my frustration that Surrounded wavers on the line of good and great. A slight push in the right direction and this could have been a really phenomenal album. It’s a fantastic record for those who enjoy this style of singing; who knows, I wasn’t a huge fan of Neutral Milk Hotel until I adjusted to the vocals, this may prove to be the same. For a debut album, this is extremely visual and compact, despite the previously mentioned shortcomings. [www.breadmusic.com]