Aeon Station - “Fade”

SXSW 2022 - OEB Score: 9; Popularity Index: 3

Pairs Well With…Arcade Fire, San Fermin, The Wrens

Fifteen years past their final album The Meadowlands, The Wrens are no more, but the music once meant for a follow-up has now evolved into the grandly ambitious Observatory. The debut from Kevin Whelan’s Aeon Station, these songs (as well as others written since) have grown into a mix of ambient emotionality and bursting choruses, powering like a pop orchestra rather than an expected, late-career minimalist solo effort. Influences from new wave pop to dense indie rock give Observatory a constant sense of depth. In this ever-changing atmosphere, Aeon Station welcome a front-to-back listen of Observatory without losing interest and excitement across the record’s ten tracks. Above all, there is a hopeful spirit throughout Observatory, a testament to Whelan and company’s passion and reach some thirty years since The Wrens’ debut. Most likely on account of being a debut band rather than formally The Wrens, Aeon Station’s Observatory has fallen under the radar since its release this December, though SXSW could prove a nice springboard if the grandiosity and care put into Observatory comes across as soundly live as it does on record. (Kevin McStravick)