Soft Circle - Full Bloom

Soft Circle
Full Bloom
(01.2007, Eastern Development)
6.5/10

With former calling cards of Black Dice and Lightning Bolt, Hisham Bharoocha’s Soft Circle project should be right down my isle but after months of listening I can’t bring my self to a slam dunk review. Soft Circle’s sound can be rightfully compared to contemporaries like Animal Collective, Boredoms and former band Black Dice, but with all its similarities Full Bloom seems a little too equally contrived a slightly watered down. As a drummer, Bharoocha’s method includes an abundant, restrained use of his drum kit along with swirling guitars and Panda Bear vocals circa Young Prayer. The effect is a sort of ambient spiritualism that you would be likely to find on a White Rainbow album. The elements are all worthy and that is why listening to it has been tricky. Many of the album’s features feel like Soft Circle is a regurgitation of work done when he helped create Beaches & Canyons. That doesn’t mean that Full Bloom is a failure, Beaches & Canyons is incredible source material, but amongst his contemporaries it becomes easy to distinguish Soft Circle’s debut as something of an unnecessary addition to a well trodden path, like a collection of B-sides if you will. Full Bloom is pleasant, it doesn’t step on anyone’s toes (because most are yards ahead), it’s viably enjoyable yet, deep in the back of my mind, no matter how I try to suppress it, there is a little voice in my head whispering “enjoy it while you can, because tomorrow you won’t even remember that you own a Soft Circle album.”

-Mr. Thistle

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