reviews

Ira - These Are The Arms

posted by: maurice on 11 September 2011

Ira hails from Germany and presents you their third album. Their previous records showcased a combination of indierock, hints of postrock and a bit of shoegaze. Their previous albums all cloecked in around 60 minutes of music. 'These Are the Arms' is different, with only six songs in half an hour. Did they have a lack of inspiration or was the band just picky when it came to their own creations?

I don't know actually; songs like "A New Profile" or closing song "Hydrophobia" just burst with creativity. Ira makes nineties emo such as Vanilla did, combined with post rock and play it with the typical German focus (or should I say P�nktlichkeit). Compared to the nineties the production standard is of course updated; you�ll recognize this style in this new jacket.

Two songs last for around nine minutes, and in these dragging ones they keep the attention span just as high as Elliot did ten years ago. Both vocalists share the same ability to keep the listener glued to their speakers. Ira�s vocalist even does it when he sings in German. He combines it with English lyrics. I must admit I can�t believe his German words in �Katapult� sound so beautiful. I always thought the German language is just harsh words.

And then the album is over. After the hypnotizing �Hydrophobia� you are begging for more, let�s hope new songs will arrive soon. In the meantime the repeat button will do the job.

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