Dark Room Notes have been around since 2004. Despite this, and the fact their debut album was nominated for the Choice Music Prize, I have to admit that this is the first time I've heard of them.
'Elm' is yet another 80s styled electro-pop number. I’m finding it increasingly difficult to find anything much to say about this kind of thing, and nigh on impossible to say anything that I haven't said before. Stylistically, retro synth music has become the new landfill indie. At least Dark Room Notes can claim to have been doing it since before it became ultra-hip.
According to the press release, 'Elm is a bittersweet love song written by the band following a visit to Berlin in October 2009 and is an ode to that city in the autumn time and to an imaginary couple that might have met there at the turn of the century. It's whirling rhythms reflecting the turn of the carousel and the carefree twirling of a parasol.' Ok, so I'm glad they told me, because I probably wouldn't have figured it out for myself.
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General genre-related grumbles aside, 'Elm' does have a murkier atmosphere lurking beneath its shiny, bleepy surface, and I have to say that it's definitely better than most.
Dark Room Notes on MySpace
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