The music of the School of Seven Bells dwells in lofty places with thin air and no boundaries. Borrowing their name from a mysterious and legendary school for pickpockets that may or may not exist in the Andes Mountains of Colombia, the trio of Benjamin Curtis, and Alejandra and Claudia Deheza, run away with this idea of fantasy, creating songs that soar on another plane. Their new album, Disconnect from Desire flows as if in defiance of reality; the School of Seven Bells create their own perfect physics, where slow, airy lyrics cling to solid beats, bouncing in positively charged excitement.
The twin Deheza sisters carry the burden of the music with their voices of ethereal power. Benjamin Curtis guides them on currents of gentle guitar and murmuring drum patter. Overlapping in lingering moments of unanimity, the twins conspire to expand from two to seven. They create a choir of voices that float weightlessly, spreading to a breadth that obscures mountains, their peaks reverberating with Benjamin’s buzzing guitar. Far below, alarms sound from ringing synthesizers, warning of trouble in another, more grounded world. But in this ephemeral place, reason has no weight and beauty expands everywhere. Pressure from voices on-high, chiming beats and guitar haze fill crevasses in clouds, while carefully placed pauses saturate clear atmosphere with crisp silence.