08-07-2010, 12:00
released July 6th, 2010
![[Image: n97510nzsuq.jpg]](http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drn900/n975/n97510nzsuq.jpg)
from the album - In Ruins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u8FqrVK_rI
from all music
Putting their own spin on the dance-pop genre by embracing co-ed vocals, oddball experimentation, and a mysterious public image, Fol Chen began attracting blog attention in early 2009. The bandmates (as well as their label, Asthmatic Kitty) maintained a good deal of secrecy from the start, remaining reluctant to divulge the members' names or identities. To promote the release of their debut album, Part 1: John Shade, Your Fortune's Made, the enigmatic group took to the internet, where they unveiled an animated music video (with singing fish and dancing lions replacing the actual musicians) and issued a press release that likened their music to "that mysterious black object that the creepy family is staring at on the cover of Led Zeppelin's Presence album." The record was released in February 2009, drawing comparisons to Of Montreal's outrageous, off-kilter pop. The group also issued a digital EP that year, and returned in 2010 with Part II: The New December.
album review
Fol Chen continues to embrace mystery and avoid the obvious on Part II: The New December. As on Part I: John Shade, Your Fortuneâs Made, the enigmatic band makes a virtue out of indirectness, sending songs through secret passages and tunnels that end in hooks some distance from where they were expected. Thereâs a strong experimental streak in the brainy way Fol Chen takes what seems like a straightforward idea and twists it into something completely different; like the Dirty Projectors, the group flirts with and subverts mainstream pop ideas, and like labelmates Cryptacize, theyâve got a flair for the deceptively simple. The band goes even further down the rabbit hole than on Part I, beginning The New December with some of its strangest music. âIn Ruinsâ contrasts deep, whispered vocals with lively girlish ones atop busy keyboards playing busy, vaguely Eastern-tinged melodies; âYour Curtain Callâ begins with breathy beats and woozy flutes, expanding into bells and a drunken sax solo before pulling back again; and âMen, Houses or Beastsâ tiptoes so slowly that it almost sounds like it was recorded at the wrong speed. Fittingly for a band so committed to disguising its identity, some of The New Decemberâs best songs deal with miscommunication and missed connections. On âThe Holograms,â a tale of forgotten names and words doubling into optical illusions, bounces along on one of the albumâs catchiest melodies, while the excellent âC/Uâ keeps its lovers apart despite its almost perversely straightforward beat. Likewise, the band buries some of its best songs on the albumâs second half: âAdeline (You Always Look so Bored)ââs sharp-tongued chamber pop recalls St. Vincentâs abundant musical and lyrical wit, and âThey Came to Meâ boasts rubbery beats that are just as danceable as they are strange, and could be heard at a club with a trampoline for a dancefloor. How exactly these songs fit together with âHolesââ delicate plucking and the title trackâs pixelated folk might be locked in Fol Chenâs brains, but even if there are more pieces of their puzzle-pop missing here than there were on John Shade, Your Fortuneâs Made, The New December is never boring.
Track Listing
1 The Holograms Bing, Noftle 3:48
2 In Ruins Bing 3:00
3 Your Curtain Call Bing 3:50
4 This Is Where the Road Belongs Bing 3:49
5 Men, Beasts or Houses Bing, Noftle 4:10
6 C/U Bing 3:20
7 Adeline (You Always Look so Bored) Bing 3:27
8 The Holes Bing, Noftle 2:41
9 They Came to Me Bing 3:14
10 The New December Bing 4:22
from the album - In Ruins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u8FqrVK_rI
from all music
Putting their own spin on the dance-pop genre by embracing co-ed vocals, oddball experimentation, and a mysterious public image, Fol Chen began attracting blog attention in early 2009. The bandmates (as well as their label, Asthmatic Kitty) maintained a good deal of secrecy from the start, remaining reluctant to divulge the members' names or identities. To promote the release of their debut album, Part 1: John Shade, Your Fortune's Made, the enigmatic group took to the internet, where they unveiled an animated music video (with singing fish and dancing lions replacing the actual musicians) and issued a press release that likened their music to "that mysterious black object that the creepy family is staring at on the cover of Led Zeppelin's Presence album." The record was released in February 2009, drawing comparisons to Of Montreal's outrageous, off-kilter pop. The group also issued a digital EP that year, and returned in 2010 with Part II: The New December.
album review
Fol Chen continues to embrace mystery and avoid the obvious on Part II: The New December. As on Part I: John Shade, Your Fortuneâs Made, the enigmatic band makes a virtue out of indirectness, sending songs through secret passages and tunnels that end in hooks some distance from where they were expected. Thereâs a strong experimental streak in the brainy way Fol Chen takes what seems like a straightforward idea and twists it into something completely different; like the Dirty Projectors, the group flirts with and subverts mainstream pop ideas, and like labelmates Cryptacize, theyâve got a flair for the deceptively simple. The band goes even further down the rabbit hole than on Part I, beginning The New December with some of its strangest music. âIn Ruinsâ contrasts deep, whispered vocals with lively girlish ones atop busy keyboards playing busy, vaguely Eastern-tinged melodies; âYour Curtain Callâ begins with breathy beats and woozy flutes, expanding into bells and a drunken sax solo before pulling back again; and âMen, Houses or Beastsâ tiptoes so slowly that it almost sounds like it was recorded at the wrong speed. Fittingly for a band so committed to disguising its identity, some of The New Decemberâs best songs deal with miscommunication and missed connections. On âThe Holograms,â a tale of forgotten names and words doubling into optical illusions, bounces along on one of the albumâs catchiest melodies, while the excellent âC/Uâ keeps its lovers apart despite its almost perversely straightforward beat. Likewise, the band buries some of its best songs on the albumâs second half: âAdeline (You Always Look so Bored)ââs sharp-tongued chamber pop recalls St. Vincentâs abundant musical and lyrical wit, and âThey Came to Meâ boasts rubbery beats that are just as danceable as they are strange, and could be heard at a club with a trampoline for a dancefloor. How exactly these songs fit together with âHolesââ delicate plucking and the title trackâs pixelated folk might be locked in Fol Chenâs brains, but even if there are more pieces of their puzzle-pop missing here than there were on John Shade, Your Fortuneâs Made, The New December is never boring.
Track Listing
1 The Holograms Bing, Noftle 3:48
2 In Ruins Bing 3:00
3 Your Curtain Call Bing 3:50
4 This Is Where the Road Belongs Bing 3:49
5 Men, Beasts or Houses Bing, Noftle 4:10
6 C/U Bing 3:20
7 Adeline (You Always Look so Bored) Bing 3:27
8 The Holes Bing, Noftle 2:41
9 They Came to Me Bing 3:14
10 The New December Bing 4:22