Tamaryn
Tamaryn is a dream pop/synth/shoegaze recording project of New Zealand native Tamaryn Brown, who moved to the US some time ago. She’s bounced back and forth between New York and San Francisco, and is now based out of Brooklyn. Her 2010 album The Waves was one of my favorite records that year, and the follow-up Tender New Signs was #9 on my favorite albums of 2012 list.
This eagerly anticipated third album Cranekiss just came out via Mexican Summer, and it was marked by a lot of changes. She moved back to Brooklyn from San Francisco. She tweaked her sound. She got a new set of collaborators: on this one she worked with Shaun Durkan from Weekend and Jeorge Elbrecht from Violens.
The new record is a bit more synthy than her previous efforts and at times a bit darker. I haven’t been able to spend a lot of time with Cranekiss, but I like it a lot anyway. Especially the title track. This is that song.
“Cranekiss” by Tamaryn
The first ten seconds and the last five obviously bring My Bloody Valentine to mind, with that melty guitar and the big snare fill that sounds like a hybrid of live and synthetic drums. Apart from that, there’s not so much of the MBV vibe.
There’s a brilliant balance of darkness and light. The bass is sort of gloomy and Cure-esque, and there’s a certain coldness to the drums, while the chime-like guitars and the heavy effects and Tamaryn’s angelic vocals offer the counterbalance of light. An abundance, actually.
This song reminds me of why I loved The Waves so much, and there’s a variety of other sounds throughout the rest of the album. It’s not a radical departure from “the Tamaryn sound”, but a bit of one.
Enjoy the beautiful video for the song here:
Buy the album via Mexican Summer here. There’s a limited edition vinyl which they’re describing as “white with silver haze”. I might describe it as “white smoke”. It looks like there are only about 20 still available from the run of 500.
this is that song 
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