What began as a the solo-project of electronic pop artist Dan Frau, Caralis has developed into a fully fledged band, producing a sound that sits somewhere between dreampop and electropop.
Their first single as a full group, “Logic” demonstrates this well, taking cues from the likes of Caribou and Bonobo. A catchy piano riff is the base of the song, rolling back and forth under Frau’s vocals, the style of which reminds me of (please don’t take this the wrong way, Dan) Keane’s lead singer Tom Chaplin.
The chorus raises us above the driving rhythm of the verse as Ex Libra’s frontman Amit Sharma plays a light guitar part which intertwines nicely with Frau’s now floating vocals. The song at this point feeling more similar to Wild Beasts in nature—it’s a nice change-up before the plunge back into the beefier verses. Toward the end of the song the urgency is upped in a long outro, a buzzing synth bassline drops in (“wait for the drop!”) with Frau repeating the line “different agenda,”—the whole thing feels rather sinister at this point.
The song, or the three ideas which come together to make it up, create an odd sensation where it never really seems to force itself upon you. Similar to the appeal of bands like Wild Beasts and Caribou, the music instead takes you places before you realize this is the third or fourth listen and your boss is glaring at you to stop gazing out the window and get back to work. Oops. Best be off.
Caralis’ “Logic” EP is released on 20th May 2016 via Fairfield Records.
