Keep Shelly In Athens - "Philokalia"

As I've talked about plenty recently, I've always had a big soft spot for the Chillwave genre.  So of course, when I stumbled upon Keep Shelly In Athens I loved what I was hearing for the most part.  I thought their very somber, down-tempo approach to Chillwave was something super new to the genre.  Their debut LP "In Love With Dusk / Our Own Dream", was a solid collection of tunes from early EP's.  I liked the very glistening production and the spacey vocals.  Hell, as an atmospheric album in general, it was actually pretty solid.  But I wasn't too wild about some of the Ad-Libs, and some of the duo's ideas I didn't feel were pushed far enough.  In 2013 Keep Shelly In Athens released their full-length debut, "At Home".  Now, honestly, I liked a lot of things about this album.  I liked the album's more abrasive production, and as far as beats and atmosphere go, Keep Shelly In Athens were on point.  But more times than not, I felt like vocalist Sarah P's vocals were a little too distracting, and not always flattering to the stunning atmospheres. In 2015 Keep Shelly In Athens released "Now I'm Ready", and for the most part I feel like this is their most concrete album to date.  Overall, there was less of a Chillwave vibe and more of a straightforward Electronic and SynthPop vibe.   The result was a series of very smooth tunes that ended up sounding pretty confident.  And while Keep Shelly In Athens wasn't doing anything life-changing, they certainly were sounding more in their element.  Now, it's been a few years since we've heard from Keep Shelly In Athens.  But these singles man have been all over the place, ranging from some of the best tracks they've ever recorded to some of the blandest.  Let's chat about this album, shall we?

This album starts with “Leave In Silence”, and it’s a very serene intro.  Now obviously I’ve always thought there was a lot of great ambiance to their music, fans of Tycho will certainly be into this.  And I do love just how much more dense Keep Shelly In Athens sound.  To be honest, in the past the duo have occasionally sounded a little flakey.  But on “Leave In Silence”, the atmosphere is sweet but seriously encompassing and heavy.  Then we have Sarah P’s vocals, which I’m not absolutely crazy about honestly.  And to an extent, I do think they still sort of come off like a faceless 90’s dance track.  But to be honest, the sheer beefiness of this atmosphere and just how much attention to detail there is makes this work a whole lot more than I expected it.  There are elements of Downtempo and ChillWave, as well as even some Trip-Hop.  I dreaminess to this is so solid and overall this really works well as an opening for the album.  Now, “Marionette” is just as hulking and atmospheric, but this is really different for the duo.  This is seriously dark, and almost reminds me of something Arca would produce (but not as polished or as interesting).  Sadly, Sarah P’s vocals continue to really not come off nearly as good as I was hoping they would have.   Just the opposite actually, they come off like she’s absolutely desperate to sound like Alice Glass, which isn’t the case.  I appreciate that Keep Shelly In Athens is going for a more abrasive and hard-hitting sound, which really shouldn’t be bad at all.  But “Marionette” really doesn’t work for them at all.  All of these attempts at being dark and ghoulish just ends up being bizarre.  Plus, Sarah P continues to go back and forth between sounding like Alice Glass and Alanis Morissette, neither work out well.  In a weird way, I feel like they’re covering a Marilyn Manson track here, and it’s not pretty.  On the other hand, “Game Over (Daniel’s Scene)” is instantly more captivating.  I love the very icy synths, as well as these seriously ridiculous drums.  And while this may be a little hokey at times, I think this overall is a really good sound for Keep Shelly In Athens.  I love the fact that the dup are working with such bigger synths and a more cinematic atmosphere.  Sadly though, I’m still not sold on Sarah P’s vocals at all.  On the contrary, I still think half of the time she sounds like a filler musician brought in for that last banger on the “Night At The Roxbury” soundtrack.  However, this may be the most human-sounding track Keep Shelly In Athens have ever put together.  There’s actually some serious emotion on “Game Over (Daniel’s Scene) between the vocals and the very somber instrumental, so it certainly works for me. On the other hand, “Seattle” starts out with this groove that I really don’t get a good feeling about.  It’s moments like this that have me really scratching my head.  These vocals from Sarah P are absolutely unforgivable.  Everything I’ve said about her sort of sounding like a faceless 90’s dance star goes double for this.  And the very cheesy lyrics and goofy grooves really don’t do much for this at all.  For a duo whose always tried hard to be left of the curve when it comes to electronic music, this is the exact opposite.   Everything on “Seattle” is just so overblown to the point where I can’t take it seriously. 

    Thankfully, Keep Shelly In Athens put together a really solid second half of the album.  The very icy and unfriendly sounds on “Philokalia” are instantly doing the duo so much more justice.  It’s moments like this that make me think like they’re really onto something with these much bigger atmospheres.  Sarah P’s performance here is easily one of her best on the entire album.  Hell, I’d even go as far as to say that here, she doesn’t sound faceless at all.  Honestly, this track wouldn’t be the same without her very passionate vocals.  I love just how suffocating these tracks come off like the duo were performing underwater or something.  It’s very mysterious, and a far cry from what we were hearing on earlier releases from them.  And when “Philokalia” picks up it doesn’t come off as mainstream or too poppy at all but as a nice alternative to what is played on EDM stations these days.  The duo’s love of ambient music remains constant, however, and in a way, I feel like that would be an interesting detour down the road.  “We Want More” is up next, and when they do these more sinister and dark sounding synths right, it makes these tracks really powerful.  The atmosphere of this entire album continues to be so thick and meaty, and actually seriously intense.  I feel like Keep Shelly In Athens in a lot of ways are certainly on to something.  This very icy, uneasy sound is really powerful, and if they want to be set aside from other acts this is certainly the way.  Not to mention, once again I love just how commanding and truly gigantic Sarah’s vocals are on this one.  In a way, this almost reminds me of early M83.  Keep Shelly In Athens are coming so close to creating a truly great release, and they’re onto something big with this much more claustrophobic sound.  Hell, in a way, this almost sort of reminds me of something very VERY light that Blanck Mass would tackle.  But overall this just works.  If they keep these sounds up they can do something truly gigantic.  Up next is “Dark Light”, and I’ve been saying it all album, so I’m gonna say it again.  These heavier, more claustrophobic and intense beats are the way of the future for this duo.  It really makes for an interesting sound as it clashes up against Sarah’s very grand and sweet vocals.  And when those jazzy horns pop in, it’s just a nice unexpected surprise.  “Dark Light” is brilliant, from it’s driving beat to its hazy atmosphere.  This album ends off with “Believe”, but I have to say it’s literally the last thing I wanted to hear from them as a finale.  I feel like they are certainly onto something with this very vast and almost progressive sound.  But it’s the farthest thing from the sound they’ve been working on here, and it’s actually really awkward.  There’s little to no atmosphere, and this is easily Sarah’s most forgettable performance here.  And while I think there’s a decent beat and some of the world music influence is pleasant, this is far from as compelling as some of the other material here. 

Rating: 7.1/10

Give A Listen To: "Leave In Silence", "Game over (Daniel's Scene)", "We Want More", "Dark Light"

Genre: Dream Pop / Electronic / Downtempo / Chillwave 

If You Dig This, Check Out: Tycho - "Dive", Washed Out - "Within & Without", Blanck Mass - "Blanck Mass"

Overall Thoughts:  I mean, this isn't anything groundbreaking in any of the genres this touches down on.  But this is easily one of the best things Keep Shelly In Athens have put together, period.  The more aggressive synths and the more encompassing atmsosphere's are a great touch.  And while I'm not completely sold on some of these vocals, this duo still has TONS of potential.