TOKENVIEW – PATIENCE AT SEA

Tokenview’s sound is decidedly oceanic, at least tonally – rumbling reverb and windy keyboards bind together clean pop guitars and large-scale vocal hooks. Brett Clemenson’s lead vocals tug and sway in tortured explorations of lost love and manic depression, maintaining a surprisingly accessible melodic curve. The influence of a certain Canadian band is very evident, particularly in the opener What Can I Do, in which admittedly catchy whoa’s hook and yelp away in its crux. The title track is a pleasant swaying thing, using a turbulent sailing voyage as a metaphor for the dangers and swells of love, shifting to a circular march at the end of the song. The album rounds itself out with an epic penultimate number and a slated finale Exeunt. It’s all very grand and well constructed, but one can’t help but wish for a little more grind in the lyrical explorations, or some more danger in the soundscapes to take it out of the realm of the pleasantly listenable. Perhaps with a bit of time and rust in the cogs, their next record will feel a little more tactile.

**1/2