29 March 2024
Tiles - Pretending 2 run

Tiles – Pretending 2 Run

[schema type=”review” name=”Tiles – Pretending 2 Run” description=”Label: The Laser’s Edge” author=”Sabine van Gameren” pubdate=”2016-04-15″ ]
The American formation Tiles took their time for releasing a new album. A previous studioalbum dates back to 2008 but now they are back and do it well. “Pretending 2 Run” is out now.

Twenty one tracks and one and a half hours on the clock they at least give their fans worth their money. Was it worth the wait to? Yes, we think so. The album is filled with calm songs, one a bit more wilder to create some variation, but over the whole it is a relaxed album that could serve as a background music as well as it is an album you listen to with more care.

The guys blend in some different genres to make it a bit of their own, in some songs it has a bit more flair than others as some of the songs fade a bit away, which makes us wonder if it may have been better if the band was a bit more selective with the songs on the album. Not everyone might sit out the one and a half hour of material if the tempo goes out of it and the songs become to generic, but often the patient listener gets rewarded with an instrumental highlight. It’s just a matter of sticking with it, so that advice we would give a new listener to this band: have patience to hear the beauty in it.

“Pretending 2 Run” is a fine release that has a lot of nice moments. If you compare it to other new releases in this genre it may not jump out right away, but you could see it as a long term investment. Once you gone through it, the benefits are much rewarding.

Line up:
Chris Herin – Guitar
Paul Rarick – Vocals
Mark Evans – Drums
Jeff Whittle – Bass

Tracklist:
01. Pretending To Run
02. Shelter In Place
03. Stonewall
04. Voir Dire
05. Drops Of Rain
06. Taken By Surprise
07. Refugium
08. Small Fire Burning
09. Midwinter
10. Weightless
11. Friend Of Foe
12. Battle Weary
13. Meditatio
14. Other Arrangments
15. The Disappearing Floor
16. Fait Accompli
17. Pretending To Run (Reprise 1)
18. Uneasy Truce
19. Pretending To Run (Reprise 2)
20. The View From Here
21. Backsliding

Links:
Tiles Facebook