In Roses

by Gem Club

Overview

Significantly more expansive that 2011's broken yet undeniably heartfelt Breakers, due in large part to the fact that it was birthed in a proper studio and not in singer/songwriter/pianist Christopher Barnes bedroom, In Roses, the second long-player from the Boston chamber pop trio Gem Club, blends the methodical, melancholic simplicity of the National and the slow ache of Tom Odell with the evocative orchestral Icelandic hymns of Sigur Ros. This is laptop pop writ large, and Barnes' choked, Antony Hegarty-meets-Chris Martin delivery pairs well with Magik Magik Orchestra string arranger Minna Choi's tasteful orchestral emissions, with highlights arriving via the epic "First Weeks" -- a lush, two-chord meditation on loss that feels like it was built out of rescued incidental music from a Cameron Crowe film -- the spectral "Ideas for Strings," and the ephemeral closer "Polly." As a collection of unabashedly melodramatic, dear-diary poetic, and tastefully lush happy/sad dream pop anthems, In Roses delivers the goods with the sort of restrained panache that's sure to win over the NPR crowd, but for all of its icy beauty and elegant self-loathing, it's terribly inert: a great deal of the record feels like Harry Nilsson's "Without You" sans the explosive chorus. Relegated to the background, it casts a complex and appropriately cloudy audio patina, one that's tailor-made for mixed feelings and rainy Sunday mornings, but with nothing in the way of hooks to latch on to, the whole thing just drifts out of the window and back into the overcast sky from whence it came, leaving the listener neither richer nor poorer. ~ James Christopher Monger

Product Details

Release Date:	01/28/2014
Label:	HARDLY ART
UPC:	0098787307726

Tracks

1. [Nowhere]
2. First Weeks
3. Michael
4. Hypericum
5. Idea for Strings
6. Soft Season
7. QY2
8. Speech of Foxes
9. Braid
10. Marathon (In Roses)
11. Polly

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Gem Club   Primary Artist
Magik Magik Orchestra   Primary Artist
In Roses   Primary Artist
Jesse Barrett   Oboe
Ieva Berberian   Vocals,Voices,Marimba,Percussion,Synthesizer
Minna Choi   Conductor
James Riotto   Bass,Double Bass,Guitar (Bass)
Andrew Maguire   Drums,Percussion,Guest Artist
Lucas Chen   Cello
Annie Phillips   Clarinet,Clarinet (Bass)
Philip Brezina   Violin
Kristen Drymala   Cello
Georgeanne Banker   Bassoon
Justin Lee   Flute
Maguire   Drums,Vibraphone
Caitlyn Smith   Horn
Jory Fankuchen   Viola
Alisa Rose   Violin
Christopher Barnes   Organ,Piano,Synthesizer,Vocals

Technical Credits

Ieva Berberian   Composer
Minna Choi   Arranger
James Riotto   Mixing,Engineer,Producer
Maria Rice   Assistant Mastering Engineer
Yinling Hsu   Paintings
Rafi Sofer   Engineer
Jeff Lipton   Mastering
Christopher Barnes   Composer,Producer