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The L.A.-based experimental post-rock group known as Red Sparowes has done it again, having produced a second full-length album that proves to be even more elaborate and breathtaking than the first. Every Red Heart Shines Towards the Red Sun, to be released September 19, 2006, features 8 tracks, loaded with intricate, heavily layered guitar melodies and awe-inspiring soundscapes that flow nearly flawlessly together. Every Red Heart contains plenty of mystifying melodies and mountainous crescendos much similar to their first release, At the Soundless Dawn (2005), yet seems to go a step further, adding more diversified layers and variety to the songs. The tracks on Every Red Heart often change pace and contain a much broader range of beats and melodies, making the 7-9 minute long tracks much more entertaining and avoiding issues like the sometimes monotonous and boring moments in their previous release.

Red Sparowes possess a keen ability to create vividly illustrated and often politically-aimed stories without the use of a single word, spoken or sung, in their music. Instead, the band chooses to create their stories through pure instrumentation, and uses long, descriptive song titles to help guide the listener. The same holds true for this album, which is based on the Great Sparrow Campaign, which was formed by the Great Leap Forward initiated by Mao Zedong in communist China during the late 1950's. With only a brief amount of historical background on this theme, one can see how the title of each tracks fits into the story. It is the music guiding these titles, however, that adds emotion and feeling to the story.

Having only emerged less than two years ago, Red Sparowes has already made a reputation for itself as a major component of the post-rock / instrumental scene, and Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun will surely do nothing less than strengthen that reputation. All storyline themes aside, Every Red Heart exhibits atmospheric instrumental rock music at its finest, with unrivaled complexity and outstanding melodic beauty. That said, there is certainly a great deal of significance added to this album by its historically based theme which is illustrated both in the music and the unusually long, descriptive song titles. It is clear that the band wishes to promote a lesson through this story: a lesson about the danger of blind obedience and the tragedies that can result from it. With only simple examination, the overall theme of this album seems to scream out "THINK FOR YOURSELF!" And perhaps that theme is even an ideal reflection of Red Sparowes themselves, a band that insists on finding its own way and settles for nothing less than instrumental perfection. With their second magnificent release, Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun, the agenda of the newly surfaced Red Sparowes is now clear: to create wonderfully artistic instrumental music combined with intriguing storylines that will make us all stand in awe for years to come.

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Reviewer: Sean Butze Added: September 18th 2006