Days

**The thing that defines New Jersey quintet Real Estate’s most recent effort is an entrancing sense of nostalgic warmth, harking back to a simplicity that is beautifully realised in their music. With an album titled _Days_ and an opening track titled ‘Easy’, this sense of simplicity is promoted rather than shrouded and it is what I think makes the record so appealing. Overall, it’s a much more coherent record than their self-titled debut, and it is on _Days_ that the true potential of their sound is fully realised.**

Instrumentally, each track is fairly straightforward in isolation: the driving lead guitar pierces the chilled rhythm section, with a soft vocal performance fitting comfortably in the middle throughout. There’s an emphasis on repetition and looping ideas, resulting in tracks that are in danger of fading into comfortable background music, and consequently, the listener is only properly rewarded once he/she gives _Days_ full attention. It is the very lack of any abrasiveness that makes the album so instantly appealing and what I think gives it seemingly unlimited replay potential. The album even contains a wholly instrumental track in ‘Kinder Blumen’, with its lack of vocals by no means pushing it to the back of the memory because of its memorable, relaxed guitar back-and-forth.

The album strikes the difficult balance between creating a refreshing sound and maintaining a recognisability that gives you the sense you’ve heard the tracks before. It’s refreshing and comfortable in equal measure thanks to its simplicity – a formula which ‘It’s Real’ – the most instantly recognisable song on the album – is the finest manifestation of.

The first five tracks feel like that first summer’s day in the park, with beers and a football and a sense that nothing really matters anymore. The latter half takes a more reflective tone with lyrics such as “things won’t be like they were before” in ‘Three Blocks’, making the nostalgia that little bit more painful than sweet. It’s an album about growing up and everything that encompasses; capturing a sense of hope whilst expressing the realisation that not everything can be as sweet as the tracks.

_Days_ is a lovely, simplistic reflection on youth in small town America. The songs are by no means rousing or inspirational, but that’s not the point. The focus is on organically beautiful music and, in this area, **Real Estate** nail it.

**MP3**: ‘It’s Real’, ‘Easy’

**Similar To**: The War On Drugs, Youth Lagoon