Found People - Anhedonia

Found People

Anhedonia
​self-released; 2020

By Dan Weston

Found People is a studio project that started with Laura Govoni and Mike Haines. The band did some major recruiting with Jeff Weed, David Keith, Eloy Palacios, Jonathan Weed and Matt McCarthy. They recently released Anhedonia which contains a whopping seventeen songs and comes in just under an hour.

The album is about the topic that is far and away the most popular topic I’ve read about that bands are singing about. They say: “The subject matter is a mix of highs and lows that highlight the members' mental struggles and triumphs in the strange, modern world and the role of music as a therapeutic element in life.” It seems to just be a sign of the times but in all honesty I feel like every other album I review is about this topic.

The band to my ears primarily has a ’90s rock vibe with some ballads but there are unusual twists and turns along the way that keep it interesting. They play with a number of genres including experimental and electronic. There are also male and female sounding vocals, both of which I thought were about equally as good. 

Out of the seventeen songs I thought there were some highlights. The opening track “Reveries” is quite good with notable hooks, a great groove and spoken word ending that I thought was engaging and sounded like a meditation session.

Another highlight that goes slightly against the grain is “In a Dream.” I thought the vocals combined with the reverb laced piano sounded fantastic. It is one of the more pensive, melancholy and warm moments on the album.

Another killer track is “How It Ends’ which contains a kinetic bass line that makes it sound like you’re traveling through a wormhole. The vocalists both do a great job and the music just drives. The next track “Further from Reality” is beautiful and one of the more abstract pieces. As the album progresses with “Quiet in the Night,” “Chant” and ‘Vantablack” which I thought were highlights.

This is definitely an epic album in scale. I congratulate them on that. I’m old school and prefer listening from beginning to end and my only critique was the length. I could make a case that the ten strongest songs would have been more powerful.

Overall, this is a really good album. The songwriting and delivery was top notch. Take a listen.

Tweet