Written by Sarah courtesy of River Rock Review
LayerZ is a three piece composed of talented multi-instrumentalist hailing from Tel Aviv, Israel. Their second album and first full length production, Memory Towers, is a psychedelic fusion combining a variety of styles in an exceptionally precise manner. All three members of LayerZ are trained jazz musicians, choosing to stick to their roots but create a sound that is very complex and new age. Using modern and new concepts for vocals, they present an interestingly strong futuristic feel.
In the title track, Memory Towers, you are enveloped by a synthetic, organ-like, and hypnotic ballad playing to the memories that its trying to provoke of its listener. This track is driven forward into a vivid fantasy land by a strong and pulsating jazz inspired bass line. Robotic sounding, rhythmically spoken vocals impress the listener hauntingly. LayerZ adds another of their name sake, layer, by having a another guest vocalist for Goodbye, guest musicians being a common theme for this album. In Goodbye we are greeted by the beautiful vocal styling of Marina Maximillion Karni, which is soon followed up again by a rhythmic and forward moving musical composition. This track emphasizing vocals when previous songs used vocalizations in a more supportive way. The way LayerZ chooses to arrange their instruments and vocals creates beautiful dimension and depth. Going in yet another direction, the track Cycles starts strong by featuring the contemplative and saddened vocalizations of the three core members of the group and guest vocalist Benjamin Bouskila. This song falls into a snare driven tribal sound, with lyrics that bring into question some of the greater mysteries of life. Furthermore, Cycles escalates into a palpitating dance beat, with inspirations from modern electronic music, dropping back into soothing yet melancholic fallout.
>> Continue Reading.
