{"id":41011,"date":"2016-02-06T18:25:25","date_gmt":"2016-02-07T00:25:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/?p=41011"},"modified":"2016-02-08T00:32:47","modified_gmt":"2016-02-08T06:32:47","slug":"wray-hypatia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/2016\/02\/06\/wray-hypatia\/","title":{"rendered":"Wray: Hypatia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium alignright wp-image-41012\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/WRAY_Cover_Lo_opt.jpg?fit=300%2C300\" alt=\"WRAY_Cover_Lo_opt\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/WRAY_Cover_Lo_opt.jpg 300w, https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/WRAY_Cover_Lo_opt-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/WRAY_Cover_Lo_opt-125x125.jpg 125w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Birmingham, Alabama is an unusual place to harbor any kind of alternative music, especially that of the caliber that is the shoegaze trio, Wray, whose sophomore album, <em>Hypatia<\/em>, has garnered national attention just a little over a month after its debut. The group signed to <a href=\"http:\/\/communicatingvessels.com\/\">Communicating Vessels<\/a> in 2014 for their self-titled debut as well as for <em>Hypatia<\/em> and are, rightfully, the label\u2019s most beloved band. The trio is comprised of tenured Birmingham musicians David Brown, David Swatzell, and Blake Wimberly that have, as a result of their recent success, made the leap of faith to becoming full-time musicians; abandoning their nine-to-fives to fully explore the potential within their washed-out, reverb-saturated world.<\/p>\n<p><em>Hypatia<\/em> is comprised of eleven original tracks as well as an energized cover of Faust\u2019s \u201cJennifer.\u201d As a whole, the tracks are all distinct yet extremely similar in tempo and timbre. The use of repetition and subtle variation throughout this album, be it harmonic or rhythmic, is a hallmark of shoegaze music and in <em>Hypatia<\/em>, Wray uses this to their advantage. By stretching out nearly identical drum beats, strumming patterns, and tone across all twelve tracks, this gives the album a very intentional mood; something which their debut album lacked. All of the guys seem to have a solid understanding of their own parts and where they fit in the group. There is a very distinct blend happening, the driving bass and drums are tidally locked and the guitar shimmers on top and in-between. The washed-out vocals weave in and out of focus while the harmonies, though scarcely used, fill in the remaining space.<\/p>\n<p>While a few of the songs seem drawn-out and lackluster, there are definitely stand-outs. The title track, \u201cHypatia,\u201d is hands down the best track on the album. The main vocals and harmonies are haunting and are complimented by the occasional single-line guitar riff. Other tracks to listen for are \u201cMay 23rd,\u201d which has some wailing fuzz-guitar riffs, and their cover of \u201cJennifer\u201d by Faust, which captures the obscure essence of the song while injecting a dose of their own subdued yet upbeat sound.<\/p>\n<p>Wray, with their rising success, is definitely an artist to keep a look out for. With <em>Hypatia<\/em> it seems that the group is finally settling into their own sound: hypnotizing, dreamy, and subconsciously catchy.<br \/>\n<b><br \/>\nRecommended If You Like: Wild Nothing, My Bloody Valentine, Swervedriver<br \/>\n<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Recommended Tracks: 1 (Below), 2 (Giant), 5 (May 23rd), 8 (Shiva), 10 (Jennifer)<br \/>\n<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Do Not Play: None<br \/>\n<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Written by Alex Frank on 02\/06\/16<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wonderful shoegaze from the deep south.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11774,"featured_media":41012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3235,3230,181],"tags":[4324,4201,4202,4200],"class_list":["post-41011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-music-reviews","category-new-music-rotation","category-rock-rotation","tag-alex-frank","tag-hypatia","tag-shoegaze","tag-wray"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/WRAY_Cover_Lo_opt.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11774"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}