High Highs - Cascades

High Highs
Cascades
2016
Spotify

Soaring chill wave music can sometimes really hit the spot. That certainly is the case with the second record from the Australian band High Highs Cascades. If you are looking for high energy this is not going to be the record for you, instead it sort of moves along at it's own clip rising like a sunrise and setting just the same. The record first and foremost is really beautiful. The sound is clean yet just indie enough to have quite the soul. The dreamy environments that the band is able to create is reminiscent of some of the best ambient music out there. It really takes something special to actually craft a full on dreamscape with your music but the High Highs are able to do it even on the tracks where the fall more on the Indie side of things rather than the chill wave. "How Could You Know" is one of those tracks that is far more Indie-Pop than the rest but there are still those underlying tones that don't take you out of the picture that the High Highs try and create. The underlying groove on the record however still has a bit of meat to it, with large beats underscoring the ethereal quality the strings make.

One of the issues with the record however is many of the songs start really strong but then don't really go anywhere. You get the same sound throughout the track but are let down when their is no build and really no payoff. It is like the band know how to start a really great song but fall short when it comes time to finish it. This also leaves a lot of the pacing on the album to be quite slow, not an issue if you are looking to chill out but listening to this on anything but a lazy Sunday morning might be a bit of a challenge. All the bones of this record are right there on the surface they just don't come together just right. With the talent this band clearly has it is only inevitable before they figure this out and come with something truly great. "Movement" is the track that really gets the closest to this idealized sound but again it never comes full together like you like. If the High Highs could channel a little bit of Explosions in the Sky the results would be something truly incredible. A nice listen from start to finish, but don't expect to have your mind blown on this one.

6.8 out of 10