Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing the newest album from Grandbrothers, Late Reflections.

This album is this duo’s fourth studio album, and it’s the first one of their albums that I’ve listened to … it’s an instrumental album, and it’s just under forty-five minutes long.

I’ve been listening to a lot more instrumental music this year than usual. Part of that is because it’s easier to review, so I can review more albums … but I’ve also gotten into instrumental music more. I used to almost never listen to instrumental albums, and I’m not sure why, considering that I usually listen to music more for the way it sounds than the lyrics … I mean, I listened to a lot of music in which I didn’t understand the lyrics at all, so why not instrumental music?

Well, part of it is that I do care about lyrics, just not as much as a lot of people do … and also, even if I don’t understand the lyrics, vocals are a big part of the reason I love a lot of the music that I love.

But most of all, I think it’s because I was used to listening to music with vocals, and I didn’t feel like going out of my comfort zone. But as a music reviewer, I think it’s best to go out of my comfort zone sometimes … so, after listening to more instrumental music over the past year or so than I usually listen to, and finding some real gems, I decided to check out this new album from Grandbrothers. Did I end up loving this album?

Oh yeah! I absolutely did! And it might be kind of tricky for me to fully put into words what I’m trying to say about this album, but I’ll try, and hopefully it makes sense.

So, why does music resonate with us emotionally? I mean, that’s a complicated question to answer, but lyrics definitely play a part. Now, why is that? Well, I can’t speak for everyone, but for me, relatable lyrics often resonate and contribute to how I feel about a song/album/etc … but it doesn’t guarantee that I’ll love it.

If I’m going through something, often hearing music about that thing makes me feel a lot better … but sometimes it doesn’t do much for me at all. And also, sometimes I’ll listen to a song with lyrics that I don’t relate to at all, but I feel like I relate to it even though I don’t … maybe I interpret it to have a specific meaning even though I know it wasn’t the intended meaning.

But I also think a lot of the time it has to do with the way the music sounds, or how the lyrics and sound go together … so, can instrumental music have emotional resonance for me?

Absolutely! And it’s hard to describe why, but I associate different sounds with different moods, and different emotions. And in this case, this new Grandbrothers album has a huge emotional resonance for me.

One thing that I struggle with—and I know I’m not alone in this—is accepting the passage of time. Not only the fact that I, and everyone else, will eventually die, but also the fact that I’ll never be younger than I am now. I mean, I just turned eighteen less than a year ago and I’m already starting to feel old—not that there’s anything wrong with being old, but I think most of us often feel a sense of longing for the past, maybe in part because we know we can’t go back.

And I don’t know what it is about this album, but I’m so, so, so glad I discovered this album! Because it’s the kind of album that not only provides comfort right now despite the inevitable fact that I’m going to get older, and things won’t always be the same, but it’s an album that I think will have the same meaning to me decades in the future, as the passage of time is something that never changes.

And it makes this review tricky to write, because for me it’s not as much about each individual song as it is about the album as a whole … but I’ll start by telling you this: this album absolutely blew my mind, it’s damn near a perfect album, and it’s the kind of album that resonated with me emotionally in a way that is extremely rare … so, yeah, this is an incredibly special album to me, and I’ll even go as far as to say that as of right now it’s the frontrunner for my favourite album of 2023.

So, where do I begin?

Well … honestly, as much as I love this album so, so, so much, it’s not really an album that’s going to give me a ton to say. I mean, it’s instrumental, so it’s not like I can analyze the lyrics.

Well, the first thing I want to mention is the pianos, which might be my favourite thing about this entire album, as they not only sound pretty much perfect in the mix with just the right amount of airiness to them to give them texture that contributes to the gorgeous sound of these tracks, but they also feature some beautiful melodies, for example, on the song, “Bloom”.

Some of the percussion on this album has this almost ‘exploding’ sound to it that I really like, on songs like “On Solid Ground” and “North/South”, as it really adds to the stormy feeling of this album. But there’s some other percussion that I think sounds fantastic as well, like at one point in the song, “Bloom”, where it kind of sounds like someone knocking on a door, and I also like the echoed percussion in the song, “Adrift”.

“Adrift” also has some kind of industrial sounds, and it’s a very eerie track that is a really nice change in the album. Another nice change in the album is “Yokohama Rascals”, which, on its own, is a great, calming, mellow track, but in the context of the album it’s even better! There’s not much melodically to it that really stands out to me, but it’s got such a nice calming feeling to it, and it really clicks for me! 

I love how a lot of the synths on this album drag out, giving these songs an eerie feeling and a calming feeling at the same time, if that makes any sense.

I mean, I could go on and on talking about little details that add so much to this album, like the static that adds a stormy feeling to the song, “Golden Dust”, or the jumpiness in the piano on “North/South”, or the sound of the percussion with about a minute left in “Adrift”, and I could go on and on about how much I love the opening and closing tracks … but I think I’ll let you just hear the album for yourself … if you want to, of course.

But I highly, highly recommend that you give it a chance. Even if you’re not into instrumental music at all, I think you might really love this! I mean, I used to try to avoid listening to instrumental music, but then when I gave it a chance, I discovered some real gems … I mean, I included A Memory of Something Vast and Elemental by Spunkshine on my list of my favourite albums of 2022, and that album is almost entirely instrumental, as is Patricia Taxxon’s Aeroplane (although that album has one song with quite a few lyrics), which made it even higher on that list! And now this year, Grandbrothers released an entirely instrumental album that is, as of right now, the album to beat for me this year!

Like I said, there’s a stormy feeling to this album, and the sounds feel like clouds moving in the sky, or people walking past you, or just time passing in general … and to me, it represents how scary that is. But the pianos add the calming feeling to help with accepting the passage of time, and it’s an album that I dearly, dearly love. So, for me, it’s a 9.5/10. If you haven’t listened to this album, I cannot recommend it enough! Obviously you don’t have to listen to it, but you might be really missing out if you don’t.

And I say you ‘might be’ because … well, maybe you wouldn’t like it. I’m not sure. Music is subjective, so just because this album resonated with me emotionally as much as it did doesn’t mean that you’ll love it, too … maybe you’ll hate the album, I don’t know. So, like with any of my reviews, feel free to leave a comment down below. I’m curious what you think of the album and/or what you think of my review of the album.

I’ll be back soon with more reviews, and eventually with my favourite songs of 2022 list, but for now, as always, thanks for reading!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 9.5/10
Favourite Tracks: All of them
Least Favourite Tracks: I don’t want to pick any