Oneiros Way – The Dawn is Near
Oneiros Way – The Dawn is Near
Inspired by Film Noir and aspiring to be our latest dreampop darlings, Oneiros Way are an Italian dreampop duo with gothic/darkwave leanings. Their latest album, The Dawn Is Near found its way to [sic] Towers as a beaten up CD-R with torn inlay. It’s almost as though I was the last reviewer they targeted. Fair enough! Everything gets at least one play from this Spaceman and what’s not to love about a beaten up CD-R. As John Peel used to say, “the next Elvis could be in there” (his stack). Well neither of Regina nor Claudio appear to resemble Elvis. (Regina is far prettier) My suspicion is that they target a sound more akin to Beach House, Xymox or even Portishead.
The Dawn Is Near is a sweet collection of cool, accessible European darkwave. The duo lean heavily on synths and that ‘boy/girl’ vocal thing +that they do works well. There probably just isn’t quite enough here. Not yet at least. I liked the Scandi-pop feel to the albums opening salvo, ‘Luna’ and ‘Scura’ putting me in mind of Swedish behemoths Kent at times, but certainly Radio Dept or The Mary Onettes. ‘Glass Bell’, which follows is a sparkly little calypso lullaby. The keys sound a bit ‘one fingered’ and yet somehow this adds to charm rather than diminishing. I also enjoyed ‘Immersion’, a dark little ditty tucked away near the end, which I think might have been a single. Lovely stuff. The rest does run out of steam a little. While still quite listenable, I had the impression our duo felt the need to show their variations. In doing so, the album lost traction. Yet I was won over by Oneiros Way. There’s a lot to admire about this band, not least their intent, their taste and their big hearts.
More to come I think.