New Jersey natives Real Estate’s sophomore album Days is a bike ride through the past, through the neatly manicured suburban lawns of your childhood. It’s achingly nostalgic, grappling for a something lost forever–the ease of youth. It’s a celebration of innocence and the simplicity of youth, captured in drowsy reverb and floating rhythms.
Spaciously gentle vocals deliver a sort of wisdom of time and facing reality. In their own understated way, they fondly capture the truths and pangs of growing up. It manages to be idyllic, yet realistic. “Around in the fields we grow/with love for everyone/Dreams we saw with eyes of hope/Until that dream was gone” frontman Martin Courtney sings in opening track “Easy.” The lyrics and melodies blend so perfectly to create a strong, ineffable sentiment. You’re left with an overwhelming calm.
The album transitions from one track to the next perfectly; each song connects with the next like a continued thought or a string of memories. Perhaps one of Real Estate’s best compositions to date, “Green Aisles” profoundly captures the essence of the album: “All those wasted miles/All those aimless drives/Through green aisles/Our careless lifestyle/It was not so unwise.” “Days” is a picturesque amble through the past. Everything about it is subtle and understated, but in its profound realizations it really is a brilliant album.
Tracklist
1. Easy
2.Green Aisles
3. It’s Real
4. Kinder Blumen
5. Out of Tune
6. Municipality
7. Wonder Years
8. Three Blocks
9. Younger Than Yesterday
10. All the Same
