racingdaylight - The Cadavers Sessions

racingdaylight

The Cadavers Sessions
self-released; 2016

3.6 out of 5

By Jamie Funk
​

Harnessing the sunny freshness of San Diego, Racingdaylight is the musical moniker of Jed and Jasper, two multi-instrumentalists and vocalists who have been writing music together for a long time. The Cadavers Sessions, their debut record, is a collection of their songs that bounce and feed off one another to create a symbiotic, harmonic whole.

“Desert Rose” begins the album with a pulsing electronic style. Though simple and slightly subdued at the start of the song, the intensity quickly builds as Jed provides emotive vocals over a chorus of vocoder sounds, aggressive guitar and percussion riffs, and otherworldly, atmospheric synthesizers that pepper the track and propel it towards a dynamic apex.

The next song is “Mirror Song (reflections)” a quiet and somewhat repetitious ballad that incorporates slow droning chords with a steady, laid back beat and hints of guitar strumming in the edges of the soundscape. A highly experimental intro in “Moon” gives way to a more traditional and structured instrumentation revolving around throbbing bass, acoustic guitar and a solid drumbeat. With its memorable synthesizer tones and masterful vocals, this track is arguably the best on the entire record.

As the album progresses, it continues its transition from electronic elements to a more traditional, acoustic style. “STSWF” highlights this transition as it showcases Racingdaylight’s ability to blend what would otherwise be strictly acoustic tones and strictly electronic elements into a cohesive, enjoyable mix.

​The record ends on a slow, pensive track. “Go On” is perhaps the most down-to-earth song on the album in terms of its predominantly traditional instrumentation. This track, in combination with the rest of The Cadavers Sessions, proves to the listener that Racingdaylight is capable of producing highly polished tracks with novel musical techniques and yet loses none of its appeal when stripped down to simpler instruments and pure vocals.

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