Album Review: Heaven is Attached by Slender Thread by The One Am Radio

“Slap some reverb on it!” seems to be the credo of many indie-pop bands these days. How else are modern listeners to discern between their tightly structured, melodically driven songs from the mainstream stuff you hear on the radio?

With Heaven is Attached by a Slender Thread, The One AM Radio are not throwing on layers or drowning their sound in effects to fill any emptiness—instead, they rely on full, orchestral arrangements, grooving rhythms and playful melodies to get the job done.

What’s interesting about Heaven is that, from a distance, the record sounds similar to contemporary chillwave acts like Toro y Moi and Small Black; but the production style of these two effects-and-reverb-heavy acts is absent. Many of the songs feature a fat, droning synth that’s perpetually on the verge of peaking, but never quite does. The vocals are at times a cool falsetto, and at other moments are softly sung—almost spoken—in a gentle style similar to Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard. The One AM Radio’s Heaven is a head-bobbing tribute to what an indie-pop band is capable of when they leave the chillwave at home.

Written by Christian Koons