Ottawa, ON based band Pony Girl did everything shy of mixing and mastering their latest album, Foreign Life, pouring transcendent grandeur into a set of songs that still remain grounded, sincere, and warm.
The introduction to “No God” feels otherworldly, lulling listeners into a state of comfort. The hushed vocal harmonies of “Candy” call to mind Of Monsters and Men and The Swell Season, expertly blending artificial sounds and organic instrumentation. “Little Life” brings energy and excitement to Foreign Life‘s latter half, using compelling, electronic-drive instrumentation and cavernous vocal samples over a spastic, bubbling beat.
The elegant acoustic plucking of “Quiet Mess” inspires listeners, asserting in less than two minutes that even the greatest of personal issues are totally surmountable. It, along with instrumental passages “Waiting Music” and “Hamady”, act as a mid-record breather, accentuating the sweeping neo-baroque style songs that follow.
Foreign Life highlights the commonalities that link us, in particular the way we creating varying versions of our own life, ones we use in different contexts and settings, marking the difference between what we have in life and what we want. “You taught me how to look past the picture of my little life,” they sing on “Little Life”, which is exactly what Foreign Life as a whole does.
Pony Girl, Foreign Life
So Sorry Records, November 7, 2015
