These are your Friends - Adem Single Review
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Single Review
Adem Illhan, best known for his stint as bassist in the quirky rock outfit The Fridge, has followed in the footsteps of ex colleague Kieran Hebden (Four Tet) and has taken a stroll down the path and taken a right turn at the sign stating solo projects. Now taking on the role of front man, Adem, as he is now called has stepped out of the shadows and moved into the limelight, fronting their own four piece acoustic band. Taken from the debut album: "Home Songs" comes the single "These Are Your Friends," a four track CD, of Adem's vibrant, chill out acoustic rock.
So many acoustic chill out offerings are out there, covering both the dance and rock genres, and with many an acoustic rock band out there, what can make Adem tower high above them, and take the edge. Well, for a start, Adem resists temptations to follow suit and express anger through music, and also have not fallen into the net which captures bands into a depressive spiral of moaning vocals, and everything going wrong with life. Instead, Adem incorporates meaningful experiences, life stories, and familiar situations, in what is a rather reflective, and often poetic style.
"These are your friends" is a heart melting offering, tackling the issues of friendship, and reminding us of the importance of friends, in an epic six minute story, which reels you in magnetised. The ghostly ending, fades out and is hardly noticeable until you enter the striking intro of "After The Storm" which maintains the striking calming vibrant feeling, more folk like than "These Are Your Friends" with relentless strumming guitars, and a tune that is mellow, but which would refuse to be backing music at an atmospheric dinner party, even the haunting humming is striking and just adds to the peaceful nature of the whole CD. "Let It Burn" is a country-esque lullaby, with minimal plink-plonk sounds throughout, but Adem resists all temptations to use electronic beats and machines, preferring to maintain the natural, and stripped down nature of the music, and using the band's musical talents, rather than that of someone who can press a button, to start a relentless beat, in a track where it would be so easy to do so, it is a refreshing change to hear the music played.
"Let it burn, let it burn. Let all the dead things burn
Start anew, start anew. Let ashes feed you"
The chorus is infectious and recognised every time it comes around, even on the first hearing of the track, and keeping with the feel of the album, refuses to be ignored, calming but dominant, refusing to go away like birds in the morning, peaceful and welcomed, rather than being woken with an unwelcome start.
Adem refuses to be drawn towards flash ideas and impressive riffs, it's just raw vocals, a band, instruments and that's all they need, a note bands using all effects going could take heed of.
