Generating significant critical acclaim upon its release in 2009, Real Estate's debut record showcased a particular melodic sensibility lacking in the music world at the time. Against a backdrop of chillwave and lo-fi, the band's songwriting style offered stark contrast, harkening back to an era of careful, laboured songcraft and bearing apt comparison to The Go-Betweens, The Feelies and similarly jangle-driven guitar bands of the '80s. Despite their lo-fidelity - the result of recording sessions held in frontman Martin Courtney's bedroom - these songs sounded like they were striving to break out of their modest production constraints.
The classicist streak that came across so strongly a couple of years back is reinforced with great conviction on Days, with the group bravely grasping for pop perfection and often achieving it. As with their debut, it occupies the dreamy, psychedelic terrain that so defined the summery output of their then-contemporaries, but matches that appealing vibe to carefully considered arrangements and much improved musicality. Real Estate have grown to occupy a fuller, more ornate sound, and work around their fresh, sophisticated compositions with admirable determination and focus.
The band's grand intentions are made clear from the outset, with 'Easy' acting both as an exhibition of their various melodic strengths and laying out the sonic blueprint that they build upon so fruitfully over the record's duration. Boasting the layered guitar-work that serves as their hallmark, it's a slow-burner that eases gently into 'Green Aisles', the greatest recording the group have yet cooked up. The song stretches their breezy sound to its outer limits, boasting a chiming central guitar figure which acts as the compositional anchor for melodies that ebb and flow with grace and effortlessness.
Following this near-perfect song up with 'It's Real' avoids any potential comedown. Released back in July, it's perhaps the most immediate of their songs to date, with Courtney rising to his role as more prominent frontman by conveying rich, romantic yearning through his vocal. His fresh conviction enhances the song's emotional tug and sets the scene for a touching thematic sketch of nature and man's accepted place within it. ("I carved our names into a tree, I walked on decomposing leaves, I skated on a frozen sea, it's real as far as I can see…")
The increasingly melancholic lyrical content of Days is coupled with a newfound organic appeal to Real Estate's sound. Many of these songs - 'It's Real' obviously included, alongside 'Wonder Years', the fine result of Matthew Mondanile's sole songwriting contribution - feel intimately connected to the outside world. Courtney is evidently a man inspired by his surroundings and his breezy lyrical delivery seeps into the mix in a way that highlights an emerging autumnal quality to the group's music. This shift away from the sunshine haze of their debut towards colder, more reflective territory is evidence of Real Estate's vast artistic growth.
'Municipality' continues to push the band's fine-tuned aesthetic in refreshing directions. The composition begins in a peculiarly off-kilter manner, with crystal-clear guitar lines entwining around Alex Bleeker's awkward, bouncing bassline. When the key unexpectedly drops to a minor chord at the chorus, Courtney all the while delivering lines with serious melodic heft, the band capture a timeless beauty that elevates them towards brilliance. With piano and further layers of guitar providing syrupy embellishment, the composition represents a major stepping-stone; alongside 'Green Aisles', it's one of the best songs I have heard this year.
Towards the record's conclusion, the light of inspiration evidently fades, with 'Three Blocks' and 'All The Same' providing little besides pale imitations of the fabulous heights scaled elsewhere. This does little to detract from the impact of the record, however. With Days Real Estate display their fast-developing compositional gift and offer a convincing, cohesive artistic statement that sees them occupy a unique corner of the indie landscape. It feels like Real Estate are on the edge of a mini-breakthrough; the shared vision that guides this release towards such fertile ground suggests great success is wholly deserved.