"October Symphony" had been dedicated to the Soviet Union's October Revolution of 1917, but now he wistfully wonders whether he should "rewrite or revise" it, or "change the dedication from revolution to revelation." Hence, the song concerns the plight that confronts any artist—or, for that matter, any person—when nearly everything that gave meaning to his or her life and work has suddenly changed. To put it another way, it's about a personal existential crisis: "Who am I? What am I?" Cropping up in passing are other references that reveal Neil's familiarity with Russian history and culture. For instance, when he sings, "Shall we remember December instead?" he's probably citing the Decembrist Revolt of 1825, suppressed by Tsar Nicholas I. And the next line, "Or worry about February?" likely points to the February Revolution of 1917, which overthrew Nicholas II. (It wasn't until the October Revolution later that same year that the communists took control.) Even the words "from revolution to revelation" may suggest a return to Russian Orthodox Christian tradition."
"Are they dream pop or shoegaze? Indie or electronic? In the case of Swedish band The Radio Dept., the answer is all of the above. They’re my favorite post-2000 band, coming out on Labrador Records but sounding quite different from their labelmates. Hearing The Radio Dept. for the first time, I immediately loved the mix of fuzzy guitars, washes of synth, and casually understated vocals. The core duo of Johan Duncanson (vocals, guitar, keyboards) and Martin Carlberg (guitar, bass, keyboards) has remained the same through various iterations, with Daniel Tjäder (keyboards/synth) rounding out the lineup."
"There’s something blissfully inexplicable within Far Caspian’s music that has a tendency to make your heart ache – and I mean ache. I’ve found, however, that it’s a rather empathic ache, one that you’re able to understand and connect with immediately when nestled somewhere under the UK trio’s warm, comforting blankets of sweeping synths and textured guitar, realizing something soothing about embracing inevitable melancholy rather than continuously fighting it, something ultimately substantial in venturing deep inside your emotions when it is far easier to ignore them completely. At least, that’s what seems to happen to me when listening to “A Dream Of You,” one of the five absolutely beautiful tracks on the trio’s sophomore EP The Heights, released earlier this week. Everything about the track tends to evoke a lonely evening by an unpredictable seaside, with both the opening melody as well as frontman Joel Johnston’s vocals overlapping each other with grace despite the incredibly heartbreaking nature of the narrative, alluding to the helpless, frenzied feeling from slowly being abandoned by the ones you love."
