Once We Were
Contra
A Tenderversion Recording
You have a lot of choices these days when it comes to the sprawling genre oft labeled 'post-rock.' Recently Mogwai have released their soundtrack to "Zidane: A 21st century portrait" and Explosions in the Sky dropped their most recent and, in my opinion, best record not too long ago. In such a niche-genre, it can be very hard to be noticed amongst the well-established champions of these cinematic, atmospheric compositions; here, it seems, Once We Were will have no problems. Given the many overlapping dynamics explored by post-rockers, there is plenty on "Contra" that can be compared with other musicians, but lazy analysis like this would only divert attention from what Once We Were excel at: crafting mesmerizing, powerful songs, and stringing so many different musical expanses together into one tapestry. Soft analog keys exists next to concise piano notes, vocals slip into the mix alongside intricate guitar work, and Once We Were make it work, make it a fluid, continuous evolution. Like a sequence of seemingly disconnected moments, "Contra" strings these quilted moments together into a coagulated being, almost more concrete being composed of linked fragments than it would be composed only of similar materials.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
