Whether quality releases are slow because it is the first part of the year or whether they have been depressed by the pandemic (probably a little of both), it’s been a bleak search for new music this month. Rather than post something that is less than the quality that I look for here, It seemed more appropriate to take a look back and revisit a review from a few months ago. Enter Sandtimer and You Never Had Control from their wonderful digital-only release at the end of 2020,…
Read MoreDedicated Vodka readers will remember Sandtimer from Vodka’s review of Dormant back in September 2019. As dark as those times were, 2020 has proven to be darker still, with Covid-19, political unrest, and dire headlines. Sandtimer’s music has the ability to highlight the world’s problems without making your blood pressure rise further. Enter Yongo (seen/heard here) the first single from the band’s soon-to-be-released long-player, Running In Sunlight, due out in just a couple of days (November 27, 2020). Running In Sunlight was created with minimalist production, depending on sparse instrumentation…
Read MoreThere is something jarringly optimistic about the salvation in the message that Sandtimer’s Dormant (seen/heard here) brings to what seems at the onset as a very down take on personal depression. It’s a song about going through the motions, about not making waves and the feelings of loneliness that just existing can bring. But it is hope, not depression, that wins in the end. This song, only three stanzas in length, is lightly layered in a manner that is hauntingly revelatory. The message is right there on top, but the…
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