Fall of Romance - Gothic Dark Academia Aesthetic Decor for Home & Office | Perfect for Halloween, Gothic Weddings & Dark Themed Parties

Before I discovered Imaginary Cities, I knew only two facts about Winnipeg: it's the hometown of the NHL franchise, the Jets; and it's one of the many Canadian cities that Neil Young called home when he was growing up.But now I know a third fact: Winnipeg's Imaginary Cities have entered my life - and they, like a great Neil Young song, won't be leaving my imagination anytime soon. The band's second album, Fall of Romance, makes their departure unthinkable. The record more than fulfills the promise of their Polaris Prize-nominated album, 2011's Temporary Resident.A brief history of Imaginary Cities for the uninitiated: The co-leaders of the band - singer Marti Sarbit and multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Rusty Matyas - met in a Winnipeg club called the Cavern, where Matyas saw Sarbit fronting a Motown cover band. (Isn't it cool that these two musicians found each other in the Cavern without Brian Epstein arranging things?) Initially played together for fun, they got more serious (whatever that means in rock and roll) and recorded Temporary Resident, with Matyas on all the instruments, except for violin and saxophone, and Sarbit on lead vocals.Sarbit's amazing voice and Matyas' sophisticated structures work together to such a degree that once you've heard the record, you'll nod your head in agreement: Fall of Romance is one of the most beautiful and thoughtfully composed and performed LPs you'll hear this year.Just listen to the title track, which indicates a lot about what Imaginary Cities can do. Sarbit's got a voice that's idiosyncratic and powerful at the same time. That is, no one else sounds like her, and she can handle the tough, Motown-influenced vocal lines of "Fall of Romance" like there's no tomorrow. But what's really incredible is how Matyas backs her with expertise. The guitars ring out with a Byrds-y chime that lifts up the tune into the realm of pop. And lyrics like "I need you, I need you / Even if we fall together" turn the song into a positive statement about romantic love. This isn't a song about the end of a relationship, as the title would seem to indicate, but the glories of the fall into romance. The intricately arranged and synth blasts at the track's end bring the song to an incredible climax. Wow!I'll discuss "9 and 10" next not just because it comes next on the record but also because I can't bring myself to pause my MP3 player - Fall of Romance is that darn good. Dueling pianos start things off and build the tension to a song that demonstrates Imaginary Cities' ability to rock hard. Sarbit's voice simply soars and must make anyone who's ever tried to sing insanely jealous. The strummed guitar chords work extremely well to give this tune power and make the dynamic shift to the almost classically played piano and horn section all the more dramatic. When a guitar solo emerges over the top of all this, the song becomes so powerful that tears form, not because you're sad, but because it's so rare to hear anything so beautiful on a record.But I'm spending too much time on the record's second half. "All the Time" starts off Fall of Romance with the Sarbit-Matyas blend in a melancholic mode. The two singers reach some incredible notes as they try, Motown-style, to convince a lover that they won't throw away their love. The song is so affecting because it sounds like Sarbit and Matyas are singing to each other, like Gram and Emmylou on "Love Hurts." The song climaxes with a "Hey Jude"-style choral coda and then a slight return to Sarbit and Matyas singing to each other, backed by an intimate acoustic.Again, I can't bring myself to hit the pause button or to skip to another track. When you get your copy, listen to "Bells of Cologne." Sarbit jumps all over a kick-ass drum riff as she delivers the melody. New Wave synths serve to punctuate the chorus. This song is so poppy and rocky at the same time that it should be the biggest single on the planet right now. But, then again, the equally infectious "Who's Watching You" should be the biggest single in the universe right now.Okay, I have to skip because I'm running out of room and have a lot more to say. "Sooner or Later" begins with another terrific, albeit slower, drumbeat and other percussion and synth effects. But Matyas' arrangement comes to the fore hear. The horn lines at the beginning are incredible, and they return to - like topic sentences in an old-fashioned English comp essay - tie the whole composition together. Strings, variations on the beat, and guitar solos change things up, but the composition remains whole. Matyas must have some of Brian Wilson's DNA running through his body.And, boy, Matyas can sing a lead vocal. You'd want him to sing more, but Sarbit is who she is, so what's the point? "A Way with Your Words" is an amazing, acoustic guitar-based ballad. Matyas gorgeously sings the gorgeous melody, with horns, Sarbit's harmony vocal, piano, and organ eventually entering. But this song is more than just sheer beauty; it's also a lyrical exploration of the realization that other people share beliefs that may appear to isolate people in their own subjective realms. That's why the arrangement of the song is so crucial. The other players enter as Matyas makes this realization.A few years ago, Bob Dylan showed up on the lawn of the Winnipeg duplex, in which Neil Young spent some of his childhood. He was on a mission to visit the childhood homes of great songwriters. The current owners let Bobby in and showed him around. The current owners of Bruce Springsteen's childhood home in New Jersey weren't so nice. They called the cops on the greatest songwriter of our time. I hope the cops don't do the same when one day I make my pilgrimage to Winnipeg to find out where Matyas lived.I hope whoever lives there then has one more cup of coffee for me.