adam lareau - vacation transportation

Adam Lareau 

Vacation Transportation 
self-released; 2013

4.0 out of 5

By Eva Cantillo

From the very beginning, Vacation Transportation is a trip to a tropical place, or more definitively, a tropical vacation. The music found in this album by Adam Lareau is uber carefree and has a poppy experimental feel to it, which lets the listener experience a happy-go-lucky demeanor while listening. Lareau says he’s inspired by artists like Todd Rundgren, Caribou, and Aphex Twin. These influences are apparent throughout the album as there are many effects, vocalizations and melodies that can put Vacation Transportation in the same category.

Each song has its own tropical bubbly feel. “Travel Brochure” has a super upbeat almost organ-like key tone which is colored by some really light and refreshing vocals. Similarly, “Quantum Surfing” has the same organ-like key, but the tone of the song is a bit different; Lareau has deepened his voice a bit and dives head-on into some very metaphorical lyrics, a “transportation” in themselves. A song with a different feel is “Away From Us.” It has a somewhat trippy and wavy back-beat that sways and swells like the ocean. There is great usage of effects on this track plus lyrics that sing “they moved the heart away from us, we were left in doubt,” then the lyrics “I found it,” solve the problem quickly before the song expires. “Where Was I” is another compelling track which opens up with a seductive beat and then slowly transforms into some existential lyrics.

Vacation Transportation is a really colorful album that is just flooded with creativity.  It seems to be about not only escaping and experiencing a physical vacation, but about the new things one learns and sees on such a trip. It’s about the journey, or “transportation” rather than the destination. The artist behind the music has not only chosen a great concept for this conceptual album, but has taken the time to draw out all the great possibilities of such a theme with vibrant metaphors and poetic lyrics that paint quite the picture for any listener. It is a well-produced album and is definitely worth a listen.

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