Wellington’s Urbantramper really impressed me with last year’s album Internet Freedom Is Love. I really liked their blend of indie folk and downbeat electronica – it had a dark streak through it that I found interesting, yet they maintained a pop feel to their songs.
Their new EP Tomorrow We Leave Here continues in the same vein, but loses some of the lightness in favour of a more melancholy, wistful, sound. It’s a move that works really well, and I think that I actually prefer the EP over the last album.
It’s hard to find fault with the six songs, everything just fits so well together. From the vocals, to the electronic drum fills, and sampled voices (during Sail On in particular), everything here works perfectly, showing a depth of songwriting that was perhaps not as evident on the previous album. The final track, Benders, Broken Hearts, Beacons and Stars would have to be my favourite at the moment (after listening repeatedly for a couple of weeks I’ve called each track my favourite at some point). It just seems to blend together everything the group does, and is the most upbeat track on the EP, building up-and-up before hitting a pumping ending.
This is another outstanding effort from Urbantramper and really shows a band that is working at their peak.
A band featuring members of the treeninja kollektiv. Urbantramper play, write, perform and record music... They also engage in other creative endeavours...
Manifesto-in-progress: to try and capture emotions/experiences, that are felt or perceived, and present them in a digestible, aesthetically pleasing format. To stimulate feeling in our listeners; be it that of concurrence with the emotion we attempt to convey, or of reaching a place hitherto not explored. To play, write, perform and record with ardour and respect for our subject, ourselves, our listeners and the artform itself; We aknowledge our responsibility to all...