(2023) Constant Smiles - Kenneth Anger    


Review:
Songwriter Ben Jones' long-evolving project Constant Smiles took on a new clarity with 2021 album Paragons, a collection of songs that strayed from Jones' blurry bedroom pop in favor of more straightforward and lushly arranged indie folk. Jones carries over both the heightened production values and detail-oriented arrangement from his previous album onto Kenneth Anger, but bounces back from a short-lived, folksy, singer/songwriter phase to return to the shadowy synth pop style that made up part of his earlier output. While some of the first Constant Smiles albums were equal shares reverb and music, these songs dial back any sounds that could obscure Jones' gifts for yearning melodies and dynamic song construction. "In My Heart" pulses with the same unsettled restlessness that defined the earliest work from indie synth pop revisionists like Wild Nothing or Black Marble, but Jones' knack for friendly hooks and little details, like the faintly glowing backing vocals or subtle live percussion, make the song feel more personal and open. The combination of Jones' vulnerable, sometimes almost confessional songwriting and his careful balance of electronic and organic sounds shine on the album's best tracks. "Gold Like Water" puts soft synthesizer arpeggios and steady live drums in the foreground, but swimming lower in the mix are multiple tracks of murmuring backing vocals, New Order-y guitar and basslines, and even gentle string parts. "I Hope You Are Well" is similar, bringing the strings up to the same level as the buzzing synth lines until it's hard to discern the wooden instruments from the electronic ones synthesizing their sounds. Stepping out from behind the clouds of reverb and noise that sometimes made earlier output feel intangible, Constant Smiles are more dreamy than murky on Kenneth Anger. The album grows more direct as it winds down, ending with the slow-moving lament of penultimate track "Wandering Hours" and the even more drawn-out aching of closing cut "Off Again." The synth-minded articulation Constant Smiles Jones presents here is just as strong as the more earthen instrumentations he explored on Paragons, with the songs growing more connective as sonic barriers are removed and the feelings hiding behind them are in plain view. — allmusic


   


Track List:
01- Finding Ways
02- In My Heart
03- Gold Like Water
04- Here and Gone
05- I Hope You Are Well
06- Emma #7
07- I'm On Your Side
08- Loaded Anger
09- Wandering Hours
10- Off Again


Media Report:
Genre: shoegaze, synth-pop
Country: Massachusetts, USA
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)


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