Music Review // Casa Del Sol "Strange Angels"

 

Casa Del Sol have created an album of often gentle rock songs that can take you on some twists and turns but ultimately finds its way back home.  The opening track, "Sing My Song", has this rock quality about it but there are also pianos.  To some extent, it reminds me of Dave Matthews.  Casa Del Sol sings "Sing my song all night long" and a musician singing about singing just feels fitting, especially as the first song on an album.

With guitar solos the album can be on the lighter side.  "Love In a Time of War"- which is exactly what you think it is about- has this John Mellencamp way about it.  The songs carry traditional folk values mixed with rock like Bruce Springsteen as well.  Though this changes by "Realize", which has these acoustic percussion sounds to start on, making it feel like we're on a tropical island.  That rhythm persists and sets the tone for the rest of the album.

Casa Del Sol take us on this journey throughout these songs, which at times can feel like The Wallflowers and Fastball or even Neil Young and Bob Dylan just the same.  By the time we reach "Adorable Corruptor" it begins with this spooky spoken word piece and then becomes slower and distorted but can remind me of The Doors.  Horns come out at the end (possibly a sax) and this is one of those songs that could feel out of place elsewhere but is just such a perfect piece to the puzzle that is this album.

By the end we reach the titular track on "Strange Angels".  This is an acoustic ballad which somehow reminds me of Elvis Presley at times.  Overall this just goes to demonstrate how this album can carry the same theme of rock/folk from start to finish but stop at some adjacent genres along the way.  There are many different influences within here, but they all go together oh so well.