When a band chooses to exclude vocals from its compositions, it is making a conscious decision to make music the focus. Unfortunately, too often instrumental music becomes devoid of emotion and simply slips into the realm of background noise.Pele’s music couldn’t be further away from this generalization. Most of the tracks on the band’s new album, “Enemies,” blister with delight. Not only do the songs exude a joyous mixture of playful happiness, they also extract it from their audience, thereby creating an actual connection that most bands fail to make.
While the band also toys with electronic explorations and extraneous instrumentation that serve as interludes between songs, this does little to detract from the musical masterpieces that Pele builds. The second track of the album, “Safe Dolphin,” is a perfect example of this obtuse relationship. This nearly eight-minute opus runs the gamut from fiercely giddy to exceedingly somber and then adds a hint of the unusual for extra appeal. Throughout these changes, however, the band seems to be able to retain a sense of direction that keeps all these transformations from boggling the average listener.
Perhaps the most compelling aspect of the CD is that throughout the entire album, Pele seems to create interesting orchestrations that never fail to entertain. Creating an entire album of imaginative compositions is quite a feat when you don’t rely on vocals to differentiate your material. Pele executes this flawlessly, however, while weaving such diverse genres as indie rock and jazz with an improvisational twist.
In the end, Pele has created an album that seemingly evokes more emotion than most of the trite musical poetry that artists seem to dispense, without thought, to the masses. For this reason alone, Pele deserves your attention.