When it comes to the North Carolina music scene, Winston-Salem isn’t the first city that comes to mind. Phillip Pledger looks to change that. Pledger is the singer-songwriter behind Estrangers, but also doubles as the show runner for Winston-Salem’s swiftly rising Phuzz Phest. Estrangers’ blissed-out blend of melancholic pop music has been gradually evolving over the past few years and has culminated with this brilliant full-length debut.
Season of 1000 Colors feels like an amalgamation of all of the state’s finest local acts, but is packed with enough personality and emotion to make it a truly unique experience. Pledger’s melodies twist and turn with a spastic sense of direction, but they’re still following definitive paths to create cohesive song structures that leave room for a bit of sonic exploration.
While tracks like “Cape Fear” feel like they’re ripped straight from the pages of a Love Language songbook, Estrangers’ music feels less like a rip-off and more like musicians who wear their influences on their sleeves. Bouncing vocal melodies and sun-soaked instrumentation can make it easy to lump Estrangers into pre-determined categories, but tracks like “Hold Me Close (L’Inverno)” and “Love’s Pure Light” prove that the band is in a league of their own.
“Hold Me Close” begins as a nod to classic ’50s pop, putting Pledger’s fragile vocals on the forefront with a minimal soundscape to surround it, but most importantly it highlights the desperation that these songs are packed with. While “Love’s Pure Light” feels like a bright, upbeat pop anthem on its surface, the lyricism provides a rich dichotomy between aesthetics and subject matter which helps define what Estrangers are all about.
Estrangers are one of those bands that can kill you with a kiss. Sit down with Season of 1000 Colors and upon first listen you’ll feel like you just listened to a meticulously crafted summer album. However, once you begin to immerse yourself in these lush arrangements and peel back the layers, it’s clear that Estrangers’ music contains multitudes. The group already has Winston on lock down, but if they keep up at the rate they’re going, it won’t be long before they break the local chains and become another one of North Carolina’s front-runners.
This article appears in Sep 11-17, 2013.
