Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Up From Below

This review was written February 2010.

Home! Let me come home.

Yes it’s that catchy folk song floating around radio stations, also reaching No. 15 on Triple J Hottest 100 this year, filled with stamping rhythms and royal brass melodies.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’ debut album Up From Below, has received much attention from the alternative-music-world primarily for their hit song Home. It has become an anthem to their image of nomadic freedom and obscure primitivism. It also displays their fusion of natural sounds such as whistling and stamping, along with their generous use of percussion, brass and banjo, making the album a joy to listen to.

40 day dream introduces the expectations of the album. Overflowing with simple rhythms of hand-clapping and foot-stamping, juxtaposed with extremely loose and uneven vocal melodies. It captures a musical sense of freedom and restraint. The darker essence of Desert Song could be labelled as a folksy-Radiohead attempt, a brilliant attempt at that. Janglin will put a brain-worm into your head, thanks to the dozen or so ‘Magnetic Zeros’ passionately belting out that catchy chorus.

The highlight of the album is the dramatic song Kisses over Babylon, sung in Spanish. It bears the musical characteristics of a Western country film soundtrack. The intense brass rhythms build up the tension throughout the song. The climactic section of the song is rich in musicality, with the arpeggiated ascension of humming leading into the eruption of a new melody for the vocals. If this song doesn’t make you feel the intensity of drama and passion, nothing ever will. Kisses over Babylon is possibly the only other song on the album that reaches the standard of Home.

The remaining songs on the album fail to have the same euphoric drive of passion, however are still enjoyable with their dramatic brass melodies. Utilising the simplest musical elements, it has made the entire album extremely appealing, allowing anyone to bop, thump, stamp, whistle or Ooh their way through the album.

3 stars out of 5