Note: This review originally appeared in the Illinois Entertainer.
It might be apt to describe Ice Choir’s full length debut, Afar, as an air balloon ride back to the mid-1980’s. Singer-guitarist-programmer Kurt Feldman’s vocals float above melodic synthesizer-based songs that recall the “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” days of Tears For Fears. But that wouldn’t take into account the heavier beats the Chicago band sometimes explores or its imaginative lyrics.
“I Want You Now And Always” is a shimmering love song, but the more adventurous “Two Rings” has lines like, “Five speeds to my exhaust/Tearing through the moonlit desert salts.” Ice Choir creates an expansive landscape with layers of keyboards on the pulsating “A Vision Of Hell, 1996,” while “Bounding” lives up to its name with a more nimble and rapid arrangment. Ice Choir also impresses with “Everything Is Spoilt By Use,” an ambitious mash-up of modern technology and vintage strong structure.
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