Homeshake may not be a household name, but this high-pitched, laid back, and completely cool project damn well should be! The solo work of Peter Sagar (who you might know as Mac DeMarco’s old guitarist) is pretty unorthodox; honing in on influences from Prince, Angelo Badalamenti, & Sade, Fresh Air is the brand new album that carries on the bedroom-ified sound pegged on Homeshake‘s first two records.
Greeted with ‘Hello, Welcome’, the album begins as it means to go on – soulful, and completely groovy as ‘Call Me Up’ glazes over with a synth-led 2 minutes. ‘Not U’ follows on, hosting wavering electronica loops, and following in the footsteps of every track on this release in its transcendental sound. Carrying on that vibe throughout the album, ‘Wrapping Up’ and ‘Getting Down Pt II’ show the breadth of influence taken on this LP too, as RnB undertones edge their way in through the monotonous percussion pieces that bring it all together. An album most apt for lazing about, ‘Fresh Air’ and ‘Serious’ serve up background music for days of lounging & relaxing. Perhaps the most out-there track on Fresh Air comes courtesy of ‘Timing’, which sounds like it could soundtrack some trippy indie film from the 1990s – filled with overlaying warped synthesisers, the instrumentals almost subsume Sagar’s vocals.
Utterly intoxicating, but in the best kind of way, the tracks on Fresh Air all carry the same weight, flowing in and out of each other leaving you totally immersed in what could be Homeshake’s magnum opus. Sagar’s really got a habit of producing records that are interlinked & easy-listening, and this latest release more than conforms to that formula. Tracks like ‘Every Single Thing’ and ‘Khmlgh’ uphold the haziness and funk that’s oh-so prominent within Fresh Air, and do find themselves as the more upbeat and, dare I say it, better, parts of the album.
As the album reaches a close, the funk seen throughout comes to a head with ‘So She’ and ‘This Way’ sounding more experimental than anything; taking inspiration from the vapourwave genre, they aid in showcasing Homeshake’s musical breadth on this offering. Lastly, the finale to Fresh Air comes in the form of 14-second sound bite ‘Signing Off’, and plainly reinforces the simplicity and sweetness of Homeshake‘s third album in one smooth flattened synth ditty.
Quite clearly, Fresh Air is eccentric and in its own domain. Non-stop brilliance and singularity, it’s without a doubt one of the most outlandish releases we’re likely to hear in 2017!
Fresh Air is set for release on February 3rd – pre-order your copy now. Alongside its release, Homeshake will head over the pond for a run of UK dates in May 2017 that you can nab tickets for here.
Words by Jasmin Robinson
