Album Review: Seasons - Winter

By Jackie Lam

Seasons’ Winter EP, scheduled for a release on June 22, is a delightful handful of tracks that combine lush melodies that are reminiscent of ‘60s rock with a futuristic sound. These five lads from Highland Park have managed to supersede their former efforts into an ambitious five-track EP that bears catchy songs that are moody yet palatable. Recorded at Red Rockets Glare, this is the third installment of a series of EPs named for one of the four seasons. The last EP, Fall, is in the works. I’ve been fortunate enough to see Seasons perform live on several occasions, and their brand of unfettered energy, charisma and doing things for the pure sake of fun when they play shows is evident in recorded tracks.

Although I enjoyed the entire album, I would have to say my two favorite songs are "Light, Lost" and "Of Our Discontent." "Light, Lost," the album’s operner, is a beach rock ballad with a beautiful guitar melody that languishes. "Of Our Discontent," the first single off the EP, is incredibly ambitious and highly enjoyable. It’s a swell of wonderfully melodic guitar, moody piano, a playful layer of ambient noise, and lead vocalist Nik Garcia’s wistful, morose singing. "Of Our Discontent" manages to capture a mood of a particular moment and suspends it, which is what Seasons does so expertly.  It’s the stuff that wonderfully crafted pop rock is made of.

My only complaint is that I wish the album was a bit longer, because I yearned to hear more. Although the summer is almost here, you can look back (or forward) to the fall with Seasons’ new album.

Preview their track Of Our Discontent here.

To celebrate their release, Seasons will be playing a show with Death to Anders and Tenlons Fort on Tuesday, June 22 at The Echo.