Adult Romantix. Winter

Winter debuted on this blog just before the summer with the single 'Just Like A Flower'. It impressed me mainly because of the unusual set up of the song. The summer in the meantime has progressed quite far, so album Adult Romantix is on us.

As I wrote in June Samira Winter, who is Winter, has lived in very different places around the world and is now active from New York City. The alternative rock mentioned in the 'Just Like A Flower' review is certainly present on the album, to which indie and indie ballads/pop can be added. It makes for varied and pleasant listening. As such she falls in quite well with other indie bands coming from NYC/Brooklyn in the past few years.

A review of Adult Romantix in my opinion has to start with Ms. Winter's voice. She sounds like she is dreaming out loud on the bed of her adolescent room about the life she hopes to live later. She sounds as innocent like that. From there real life kicks in. The musical surroundings show that things are not as rosy as she expected in her dreams. The music is solid and at times with an edge that girls do not foresee in a Barbie and Ken paradise.

Photo: Sophie Hur

What struck me next is how playful the album sounds at times. Winter is really playing with and within the idiom leading e.g. to a song like 'In My Basement Room'. The song simply bounces, the rhythm is pure joy and the band sounds like it could play it forever. Perhaps they did, but the sound engineer just cut the recording and forced an ending on them. Samira Winter may still be singing in a dreamy way, it seems to be the way her voice sounds, there's nothing dreamy about this song, nor in that single and album opener 'Just Like A Flower'. There is a slow start called 'Just Like A Flower Intro' and then the band goes off, just like a band like DIIV does. Winter is in a league with DIIV for sure. So expect some shoegazing light to pop up in her songs.

Okay, I'll admit that by the end of Adult Romantrix I've heard enough before the album has played itself out. There are a few slower and softer song that I do not count among the best on the album. That said, there's so much to enjoy before that moments kicks in. Like the duet with Horse Jumper Of Love, 'Misery' and the tough sounding 'Hide A Lullaby'. Taking it all in, Adult Romantrix certainly lands on my good side and is still growing. 

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order Adult Romantrix here:

https://daydreamingwinter.bandcamp.com/album/adult-romantix