Taking the boom of indie rock and using the oft-underused technique of raw, layered vocals, Century Thief is certainly doing good work in a great way. The six-piece from Toronto are ramping up to their Sept 10 release of their first debut album, “Reverie”, and the first samples from it will certainly put you into a daydream. The backbone of both “Pillar” and “City Banks” are the beautiful vocal harmonies. In Pillar, they hit soaring highs, carried along by the pulsing drums, with horns, strings and woodwinds gently carrying, tastefully layered along with the backup vocals, never losing a single moment of this well-orchestrated (literally) piece. Parts flutter and fade to and from the forefront, creating a beautiful swell that really hits all at once, not making any one single musician the star, but rather the music itself. City Banks waltzes along, with trumpets, violins and flutes all creating a great counterpoint melody. The song builds and builds, while the rock inclinations of the band come to the forefront, crashing and stomping through, creating a great contradiction that pieces together perfectly. The lead vocals portray a raw soul, with the layers upon layers supporting underneath to drive the point straight home, effective in its brief length, not wasting so much as a second of the listeners time. If you love the beauty of ambient-rock, and dig orchestral instruments even more, that these guys are a definite buy. You can catch them on their CD Launch Tour, Sept 10th at The Piston, with a handful of dates following. – Cody Wright
