Over the last few years I've lost track with developments in the world of post-rock, gravitating more toward the overtly electronic, experimental, or song-based. During 2010, I took some steps toward catching up with what's been going on with artists who can reasonably be grouped in this most loosely defined of genres. One post-rock trend, and one that looks less than promising on paper but has actually produced some rather interesting music in practice, has been the cinematic "neo-classical" music typified by Deaf Center and other artists associated with the Miasmah label. When done poorly, this sound can be incredibly banal, but when done well, it can produce music of an epic scope rivalling that of post-rock legends Labradford.
Labradford were heavily influenced by Ennio Morricone, and on Deep Politics, Grails likewise display a variety of maneuvers that remind one of the work of the Italian soundtrack titan. Unlike Labradford, however, Grails don't confine their use of morriconeisms to high lonesome guitar twang (though they do use this to excellent effect), exploring as well the sweetly melodic style found in Morricone's mellower moments. What's more, they combine this with a use of piano and strings that bears the mark of the aforementioned trends in cinematic post-rock. These elements are smoothly blended together with Grails' signature style of psychedelic, riff-heavy tension-and-release. Perhaps too smoothly, as Deep Politics has a slickness to its production that threatens to push the proceedings into the realm of the melodramatically bombastic, especially near the beginning of the album. Thankfully, the band's compositional skill and sense of restraint prevent this from happening.
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