The Receiver - All Burn

The Receiver All Burn cover
The Receiver
All Burn
Kscope
2015
7
“All Burn” is the third studio work of the US duo, The Receiver, formed almost a decade ago. This is the first time that I come across this band and I was rather nicely surprised with its style and song arrangements.
 
It ain’t easy to define the band’s style but I would go on and call it an amalgam of dream-pop, ambient, synth-pop with bits of symphonic pop and new wave. Most times there’s a dreamy, almost ethereal, texture on some tracks which give you very positive and easy vibrations. Surely, there’s a sweet melancholic side on this kind of music too but The Receiver is not another pessimistic and depressing act which is trying to make a living by leading their listeners to sadness & melancholy. I used the phrase “sweet melancholy” earlier cuz there’s a “positive” vibe on their tracks. A few synth parts are truly magnificent and along with the smooth vocals they are creating very gratifying, dreamy as well as eerie pop music-scapes. The production, which is made by the guys, is great. The album was mixed by Danny Kalb (Beck, Ben Harper, Foster the People, Karen O) and mastered by Brian Lucey (Sigur Ros, The Shins, The Black Keys, Arctic Monkeys).
 
The Receiver have blended music elements from the 70s, 80s and 90s so as to craft that specific sound. “All Burn”, due to its “strange” nature, addresses a very strict and “elitist” audience. That’s because (especially due to the vocals too) the tracks’ atmosphere is somewhat identical and that may not appeal to those listeners who seek variety on an album. Anyhow, those who fancy such music genres and synth-based dream-pop music will relish “All Burn” on the whole.