'Wrapped Up in Honey' begins quietly, a minimal drum machine and some ghostly barely-there synthesisers providing the only backing to Kevin McGinnis' vocal, before launching into a sweeping majestic chorus. It sounds familiar even on first play, yet also sounds fresh and exhilarating in an understated way. No sooner has the song faded to silence than an altogether less mellow-sounding distorted guitar cuts through the smooth sheen as 'Sometimes a City Street' ups the pace, and it's quickly apparent that 'Slow Hope Parade' is more than a mere collection of songs, but an emotional and textural journey.
McGinnis“ the sole member of The Drug Models Love“ makes a virtue of his comparatively limited instrumentation, weaving some magnificent soundscapes with guitar, keyboard and drum machine.
'...And Shorelines' is a dreamy, spacious affair, and not only demonstrates McGinnis' knack for atmospheric composition, but also Alex Newport's skills as a producer. It's certainly a far cry from the angry grey noise that was his trademark as a musician in underground noiseniks Fudge Tunnel. Meanwhile, the title track is a slow-burning, reverb-drenched exercise in bleakness, and is unsettling and dark yet, at the same time, majestic and compelling.
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Indeed, there's no sonic assault to be found on 'Slow Hope Parade,' and no violent aural shocks or crescendos to shatter the overarching gentility of the album, which nevertheless draws the listener in with a sound that owes as much to post-rock and shoegaze as to 80s electro (although neither of these references truly convey the nuanced and carefully understated sound of the album, the majority of which was, remarkably, recorded in a single take).
In a time when the popularity of the download and of shuffle-mode listening is having a detrimental effect on the concept of the album, I would offer 'Slow Hope Parade' in defence of the album experience. There isn't a real standout track on here to speak of: instead, the tracks exist in sequence to create a unified whole. And it's pretty damn good, I can tell you.
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