At the core of Avenues’ new release, “Off the Lanterns,” a quiet power lingers, burns slowly, and leaves a long glow. A song and a meditation on time, memory, and transformation, “Off the Lanterns” sets the emotional tone for Avenues’ EP, a brief but powerful bridge between what was and what’s to come.
First written against the heavy silence of October 2020, a month when the studio was still, and the world was still reckoning with the idea of stillness itself, the track’s new life, reimagined with gentle piano touches, and the wisdom age and experience, afford to have a soothe maturity. Its performance gathered live during this year’s beautifully recorded and newly available for the public “Live in Studio: 10/19/2024” is a sincerely soulful and authentic testament to who Avenues are while gently nudging us towards who they are becoming as storytellers and musicians.
Fronted by Alkan Arslan and Emir Korkmaz, Avenues stands on the fertile heartland of indie rock and folk. The groove is acoustic, and the texture is warm and introspective. Arslan’s voice hovers above everybody else while pedal steel and acoustic guitars quietly share stories. It’s a romance, not the young sort, but the one that’s reflective and moving. It’s a little worn in, but that made it more comfortable. It feels as easy as slipping into an old, warm coat.
“Off the Lanterns” toes the line between understated rhythm and sweeping emotion. It doesn’t need to build because “Off the Lanterns” lives in that steady pulse of truth. It isn’t talking about looking back or moving forward. It sounds like it. The theme is profoundly tied to the idea of the bridge or the passage. Avenues isn’t going back for the fun of it. They are returning back for clarity. They are returning back for lessons. This version of “Off The Lanterns” is a reinterpretation. A barometer of where Avenues was and is as people apart from artists. For Avenues, this is not the end. The lanterns are off, but there are still possibilities in terms of avenues. If this is part of a promise, it’s worth keeping.
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