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album Review

Revolving Shores by Graffiti Welfare

Spotify

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Overall album analysis

"Years of dedication that your ears will thank for"

You stand at the precipice of a rare modern musical experience of the highest order, where meticulous musical care and thematic origins have been thoughtfully crafted. George Lattimore interweaves strands of realism and personal experiences, producing a sublime, elegant album that transcends the mundane and elevates your auditory perception to unparalleled heights.


My recommendation is to treat Revolving Shores as if it were a film or television series. Immerse your full attention into the album and avoid relegating it to background noise while engaged in other activities. Regrettably, such is a common practice today, but a true connoisseur of life or music should invest complete empathy into the message of a speaker—or in this case, a composer. Lattimore has dedicated long years to construct a masterpiece that demands and deserves your undivided auditory engagement.


Embark on an electronic journey, laden with beautiful synthesizers and popular minimalist undertones that will soothe your soul, and eclectic and technical alterations that will astound your mind. Traverse the path of life, reflecting both the artist's intentions encapsulated in the album's ten tracks and your own perception—a gift that only the world of music can offer.


Establish a serene, welcoming environment, savor a beverage of your choice, and hit play on the first track without any intention of reaching for the pause or stop buttons. Embark on this conceptual album, contemplate your life, ruminate on the minutiae of its potential improvement, and find peace within its beautiful sonority.

To Be It

"You will smile as you appreciate this song"

"To Be It" chooses to be the opening track of the album Revolving Shores, dedicating a beautiful 4:40 minutes in a musical evolution beyond traditional context, where prepared ears will be rewarded by allowing careful and detailed listening. The song manages to promote a beautiful introduction to the album, allowing its musical doors to be opened and the audition to be continuous and perpetual throughout the entire album.


With a contained atmosphere in the initial seconds and more expanded as time passes, "To Be It" invades your auditory field with beautiful bases that elevate the sound amplitude in an elegant, calm moment, creating a reassuring environment. The timbres are beautiful, clean, and well-fitted, and right at the 1-minute mark, with a more solid base and the volume adjusted, occasional synthesizers decide to become protagonists in conjunction with an unexpected drum entry.


It is at this point, in the middle of the song, that the entire set of instruments and sound effects reach their peak, allowing ears to contemplate the conjunction of George Lattimore's intention with the first track of Revolving Shores - to permit deep thought and musical reflection that can easily involve us.


It was impressive how quickly 4:40 minutes passed, which compelled me to appreciate this song multiple times. Accept the inevitable, you will be in another individual atmosphere if you listen to this song with all your attention.

Just Follow

"Just follow the sound and free your mind"

Surpassing expectations and promoting a drift away from our earthly dimension, "Just Follow", the second track of the "Revolving Shores" album, manages to establish an intriguing connection to the first track by introducing a touch of the psychedelic subgenre and elevating our cognitive journey into the distant realm.


The atmosphere is distant yet immersive, futuristic even, with a beautiful sound of water in the initial seconds followed by extended musical notes that carry your ears afar, creating a delightful auditory sensation and innumerable individual interpretations. There are plenty of meticulously applied effects here, especially on the vocals, which successfully blend with the music's proposition.


Despite its brief duration, "Just Follow" is brimming with synchronised, intricately placed details that make it impossible to listen to this track just once. It's a true musical sea that prompted me to conjure images in my mind of a beautiful starlit night sky set against the cosmopolitan chaos of a modern city. A sonic embodiment of future-facing elements that truly deserves repeated listens.

DejaBlue

"Get ready for a déjà vu of emotions and memories. Set yourself free"

The connection of "Just Follow" to "DejaBlue", the third track on the album, was incredible for me. The initial seconds took my thoughts back from the imagined chaotic city to a serene and tranquil environment, where anything could be possible and problems can be solved.


The ambiance of the song is pacifying and soothing, as many instrumental elements are skillfully incorporated, allowing a smooth continuity throughout its journey. At the 1:56 mark, a beautiful guitar solo enters, causing the music to pause and drawing the listener's attention for the next few seconds. It's a brief moment of surprise for the ears, an interval both musical and technical, as much studied as it is melodic.


The final third of the song offers another surprise. Effects, a solo, and a more robust base penetrated deeply into my hearing, bringing me a feeling that life's complexity, something inevitable, can be overcome with wisdom and initiative. We have to take the initiative for our future.


"DejaBlue" created a deja vu for me of sensations from the previous songs, particularly the first track, "To Be It", showing that a 3:53-minute song can promote changes in space-time in an indescribable way, as this song for me passed by very quickly. It brought me peace and happiness.

Good News

"Good news, you'll have a pleasant surprise with this song"

We now encounter an innovation in the album, a more accelerated instrumental flow that begins with a denser and more penetrating atmosphere, with the gradual insertion of instrument after instrument, gradually indicating the true velocity of Good News, the fourth track on the disc.


The foundation as a whole draws attention, promoting more psychedelic and swift tones as the electronic tones and repeated beat evoke feelings that current TV news can be excessively toxic as they seek only the attention of homo sapiens.


The final innovation of the song, as I directly discussed with Lattimore, comes with the abrupt interruption at the end, reminiscent of the device that many people use to turn on their TV to try to sleep. With this environment and with my hearing filled with interpretation and satisfaction, my take on it is how people, in their overwhelming routine of the rat race, need to distract their minds with dopamine supply, be it from a TV or any other device, to ensure some pleasure amidst a very busy day. In the end, I would very much like to be able to converse with various listeners to discuss the diverse sensations they could have had - this is the art of music.


Good News brought me eclectic tones, pleasant surprises, and faster tones. The environment, despite bringing me all the memories mentioned, is perfectly melodic and pleasant, indicating the perfect fit of the message's objective created by Wellfare, while making it palatable to the ears, in every aspect.

Volume

"Escape the chaos, turn up the volume"

We've reached the debut single of the Revolving Shores album. Volume, the fifth track of the record, has an unorthodox start, with a voice complementing phrases that harken back to the previous song, Good News. Immediately following, a firm and distinctly defined bass beat invades our auditory space, receiving a strong electronic compliment and establishing a sense of urban chaos in our minds.


This sonic imagery takes form and governs the first minute of the song, evoking the impression of a modern Earth locale, with all its complexity, promoting daily chaos. Of note here is the triumphant entry of funk-style riffs from the bass at 43 seconds into the song, crafting an interesting bridge between the song's two stages.


In the latter half, while retaining the song's foundational rhythm and initial intention, beautiful piano tones become apparent in the backdrop, extremely melodic and calm, heightening the contrast to the extreme, until the style reverts to a tranquillity reflecting the abrupt shifts we can undergo in our daily lives. Indeed, as per the lyrics' advice to conquer the chaotic tone of our routine, crank up the Volume.

Echoes of Our Sound

"A musical tenderness at the right moment"

Here we arrive at the sixth song of the album, Echoes of Our Sound, which decides to offer a brief respite and an emotional pause from the narrative thus far. Its atmosphere is gentle, captivating, and delicate, exactly the opposite of all the complexity perceived in the previous songs, where George Lattimore hits our hearing with a full plate, with a beautiful and pleasant surprise.


The musical timbres are elegant, loaded with effects, and promote a base that remains from start to finish. A tender piano note enters at the 35-second mark, capturing the listener's attention who is keen on an impressive audition. The peak of all this sonic magnitude is complemented by the entrance of the vocals in the final seconds, fitting a simple melodic construction that's technique-laden, quick, and sufficient to promote inner peace at the right moment of the album.


Echoes of Our Sound is short, it's a bridge, but it deserves a listen in high fidelity and at a good volume, so that you can capture obscure details and unique sonic sensations, capable of preparing our minds for what is to come.

Synesthesia

"Multiple rhythms, rich technique, and impeccable synergy"

n a resoundingly authoritative tonality, the seventh track on the album, "Synesthesia," engulfs the auditory senses with its psychedelic genre, emphasised further by its distinctively eclectic persona. The instrumentation in this piece is multifarious, conjuring a sonorous experience that is both rich and awash with effects, demanding the listener's undivided attention.


A perpetual sonic foundation is seamlessly established, its translucency divulging a general auditory intention. The integration of the synthesizer is striking, surgical, and technical in its execution. With each listen to this track, Lattimore manages to unearth new elements, bringing forth a magical confluence that merits an in-depth dissection by the listener's ear for a comprehensive understanding of the myriad elements that the track aspires to explore.


In a broader context - which, for me, is the crux - "Synesthesia" delivers a sonic message that the cumulative essence and end product of the music supersede the sum of its individual parts. The experience here is more pronounced and divergent, as an array of sub-genres and meticulously honed effects converge in this remarkable creation. This amalgamation testifies to the expanded scope and depth that the piece achieves, setting it apart as an awe-inspiring testament to the diverse sonic possibilities that can be explored within a single composition.

Nothing Ever Changes

"Something is about to change here: your auditory perception"

Each track on this album unfurls a new revelation, a testament to the remarkable musical journey that "Revolving Shores" embarks on throughout its sequence of tracks. "Nothing Ever Changes," the eighth composition on this auditory canvas, cultivates an extraordinarily inviting soundscape. It conjures a delightful melody, where the underlying electronic texture and its eclectic tenor subtly thrive, but it is the dominant guitar that commands the auditory foreground, eliciting an exhilarating symphony in my ears - a profound emotion is unveiled.


Contrary to the sub-genres indicated earlier, this particular musical piece opts to infuse a more crossover tonality. It engenders a more pop-centric structure and immaculate guitar phrases, thus evolving into a new musical entity upon the entry of the vocals. The ensuing atmosphere engenders a sense of cyclical continuity in the face of our decisions and challenges. It serves as a reminder that our resplendent planet remains in perpetual motion, marking the inexorable passage of time - a sentiment that reflects the essence of our existence and the ceaseless evolution of our mission.


At the 2:32 mark, there's a discernable harmonic vibration, a serendipitous moment of tranquility, indicative of the signature motif of "Nothing Ever Changes." This brisk composition serves as a prelude to the album's finale, once again demonstrating the artist's deft skills in seamlessly merging complex and seemingly incongruous musical elements and genres. Yet again, another exquisite creation materializes on "Revolving Shores."

Missing the War

"Listen, interpret, live, and be grateful"

"Missing the War," the penultimate track of the album, takes us on an auditory journey replete with distorted and spontaneous effects in its initial seconds, cultivating a more serious and contemporary atmosphere reflecting the theme embodied in the title. This ambience sustains until the 53-second mark, when a psychedelic, reflective, and immersive melodic baseline seizes our senses and perception, fostering a beautiful moment of space rock.


The mood is dramatic, with synthesizers fitting seamlessly into the composition, further underscoring Lattimore's musical ownership. It's a unique blend of electronic and psychedelic effects, always assembled in an eclectic and melodic fashion.


As one of the longer tracks on the album, clocking in at a precise 4 minutes and 39 seconds, "Missing the War" manages to introduce an array of rhythmic changes and precise instrumental alignments that astounded me throughout its entirety. This piece, perhaps more so than the others, demands an extraordinarily meticulous listen. It provides not just auditory pleasure, but also requires a profound interpretation of its contexts.


For me, the track reaches its zenith of eccentricity at the 3:51 mark, where a departure from classic musical construction is emphasized and diversity is skillfully explored. This moment introduces a chaotic tempo and a stunning command of the organ in the final seconds, thereby hinting at an impending conclusion, leaving a loose end and an overwhelming sensation that encourages us to return to the beginning to appreciate the intricacies in greater depth.


The song is structured in such a way that it not only invites repeated listens but also necessitates them to fully unravel its complex narrative and auditory nuances.

Seashell

"The ending that only makes us start living"

We arrive at the triumphant conclusion of Revolving Shores spectacular work with its tenth track, "Seashell," flawlessly woven into the album's overarching concept.


Following nine sequential, eclectic tracks—each embodying a diversity of sonic perspectives and beautiful blends of styles already narrated in prior analyses—"Seashell" quickens the heartbeat with its more rhythmic, dance-evoking introduction. With a heavier emphasis on electronic elements in this piece, we are given the opportunity to explore more tranquil life sensations, strong hopes in the face of continuous rhythmic evolutions, and an almost hypnotic aura, creating an impression that we should persist in our movements, irrespective of the themes and inspirations from the previous nine tracks that evoke profound life reflections.


Revolving Shores' dance of life offers us a standalone spectacle in its closing number, which, in my view, instills a robust sense of good humor, self-confidence, personal strength, and victory. Be prepared for a high-quality instrumental, commencing with a cleaner atmosphere that gains presence from the first minute onwards, grounded on a strong, melodic base and a beautiful solo that emphasizes swift, high notes that culminate in a cycle, leading us again through the highs and lows of an interesting scale. This scale stands out as a varying instrumental component of the song while respecting the ambiance established by the background sound effects.


The concluding seconds of the track are worth noting for their deeper, distant, and clean tones that close out a work filled with surprises. It has afforded me enduring auditory smiles, both in appreciating George Lattimore's creation as depicted in this analysis, and in the realization that we still live in an era where musical conception prevails, combining artistry, knowledge, emotion, and technique in a harmonious blend.