somesurprises by somesurprises

somesurprises is the brainchild of Seattle-based songwriter and guitarist Natasha El-Sergany. Once a bedroom project focused on spectral balladry and late-night exploration, somesurprises is now a dynamic four-piece live band. Motorik beats, reverb-drenched vocals, washes of fingerpicked guitars, and hazy synths expand El-Sergany’s delicate and blissful songwriting.

With its 36th release, Drawing Room brings in a new wonder with somesurprises’ self-titled debut LP, a treasure among pop treasures. The album explores a range of styles, from gradually intensifying meditative drones, to songs where the same moment never quite happens twice. As in previous cassette releases with fewer members, El-Sergany uses her ethereal voice as an instrument, no more or less central to the music than a guitar hook or a drumbeat. But the vocals and lyrics are more in focus than ever before. From shimmering cascades of reverbed guitar chords, to driving bass and percussion guiding guitar and synth freak-out outros, as a full band, somesurprises finds its fullest expression yet. The songwriting here, laden with effects and orchestral arrangements, reaches for more than navel-gazing, or (even shoegazing) and seeks, perhaps, through knowledge of the self, to guide the way out of one’s own mind.

The album bears repeating for repeated plays (at maximum volume for peak pleasantries).

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