FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE
Released April 6, 1999
FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE
Released June 10, 2003
FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE
Released April 3, 2007
KAINALU & MUNYA
Composed by Kainalu & Munya
Produced by Trent Prall
Released March 20, 2020
-From the near beginning of our sheltering-in-home period in Wisconsin, it was a a gift more than ever to receive the latest release from our very own singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer Trent Prall a.k.a. Kainalu, and this time, we have his first collaborative effort and it is a slow, seductive winner.
"You Never Let Go," finds Kainalu generously offering the spotlight to French-Canadian singer/songwriter/musician Josie Boivin, who records and performs under the alias of Munya, who co-writes and sings lead vocals on this track, which stars Kainalu's always intoxicating blend of airy synthetics laid over grounded, hip-swaying rhythms. In fact, this very dichotomy serves this new selection extremely well, as it illustrates the emotional/psychological dichotomy of what happens to us all during heartbreak.
"You never learn, you never let go
You stare at candid pictures on your phone
You're filled with words, they'll never know, 'cause
You never learn, you never let go"
Munya's melodic, breathy vocals capture the ears instantly and carry you through sadly familiar emotional head/heart spaces gently, as if soothing you towards an elusive inner peace which has yet to arrive due to being unable to release oneself from what has already been lost. And even further, if we continue to cling to the past, we refuse to allow ourselves any sense of a future, whatever it may deliver.
"It's time for you to let yourself grow," Munya sings and with this enveloping union, here's hoping that this one song grows into more musical collaborations.
REAL ESTATE
Released February 28, 2020
NEW 2020 MUSIC: Never will I ever for get that day when I was standing in the check out line inside of Madison's Strictly Discs, waiting to make one purchase when I heard Real Estate's "Days" (released October 18, 2011) playing over the store speakers. I was so swept away that I immediately added the album to my purchase and then, ended up playing that album more frequently than the one I had been in the store to initially purchase.
Over the course of their two subsequent albums, my interest had begun to wane in the band. Not that the albums they were making were necessarily bad. They were albums, despite their continued good points, that really sounded like the act of treading water. Works that meandered prettily but still demonstrated no sense of movement. I wasn't ready to give up on the band but still...
With their fifth album, "The Main Thing," Real Estate sounds almost as if they have become a new band. Yes, the band's signature dream world bed of guitars remain intact and also yes, there have been some line-up changes but overall, the band sounds more enlivened, and therefore readier to embrace new sounds and sonic shifts, which has not only delivered that much needed sense of movement but an overall growth and purpose.
Warm synths, dry '70's drums, delicate guitar solos, lush vocals, a wider melodic palate combined with tighter songwriting has made their trademark pastoral sound extend itself beautifully into pop song ear candy ("Paper Cup"), succulent art rock ("The Main Thing") and into even near Pink Floyd-ian territory ("Also A But") making the album the perfect musical security blanket during this most anxious time.
The main thing (ha ha) is this for me...Real Estate's "The Main Thing" is their best album since "Days" as it re-confirms the best of their past while forging ahead towards a captivating future.
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