Vacationer
Relief
(Downtown Records)
Vacationer is an indie Nu-Hula project hailing from Philadelphia, fronted by Kenny Vasoli, most known for The Starting Line. Relief, their sophomore LP, is an easy-breezy, tropical psychedelic pop record that was perfectly released this summer.
On the whole, the album sounds the same from start to finish. It also sounds incredibly similar to their debut, Gone. The orchestration is brimming with ’50s and ’60s-inspired brass and string arrangements, paired with percussion and electronic samples. It remains at the same pace for the duration of the record; it’s either your chill backing track for a day at the beach, or a very fast lullaby that will lose your interest. The sound is polarizing.
The stand-out track from Relief is “Shining.” It opens with lush orchestration that sounds as though it glided straight out of a classic Hollywood film, and eases into a soothing melody with a grooving bass line and percussive accents.
