I first heard Real Estate’s eponymous debut a few months ago during a boat trip in Croatia, which – as I’m sure anybody who has heard it will agree – are pretty good circumstances for taking in the sublime wash of shimmering guitars and dream-like vocals. Something about that album resonated with me and I fell in love with it immediately. Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait long to hear their fantastic follow up, Days, released in October of this year.
They may have lost some of the slacker, beach bum charm of their debut, but Days is tighter, more focused and more coherent than its predecessor, to the point where you could almost call it a concept album. Granted, Real Estate’s extended lyrical exploration of growing up in the shadow of the city isn’t as dramatic as the suburbs portrayed by Arcade Fire, but Days paints an equally compelling picture of what it’s like to live in that safe, comfortable bubble, before things get complicated. 'Easy', the opening track, encapsulates that feeling effortlessly. “Around the fields we run / with love for everyone / dreams we saw with eyes of hope / until the dream was done” sings Martin Courtney slipping in and out of the past tense, like a man longing to be a boy again.
Although Real Estate made a fine job of producing their debut with only home-recording devices at their disposal, the superior production on Days takes their music to another level. 'It’s Real', the most memorable track on the album, is crisper and more vibrant than anything they have ever done. Despite the lack of lyrical content (including an exhilarating wordless chorus), the song still manages to bring to life vivid childhood memories of wintery explorations into seemingly mysterious forests. Cascading dual guitar lines wrap around one another like twisted vines, while clever rhythmic variations seem to hold the song back, then send it bounding forward. 'It’s Real' is the first Real Estate song that could conceivably be a minor crossover hit. 'Out of Tune' is another stand out track, and although it doesn’t quite hit the mark as well as 'It’s Real', it features another one in Matthew Mondanile and Martin Courtney’s apparently endless supply of beguiling guitar hooks.
Days isn’t without its flaws. 'Kinder Blumen' – an instrumental composed by Mondanile – seems like filler and on 'Wonder Years' evidence of Real Estate’s obsession with The Feelies sees them sailing a little too close to pastiche. I gave The Drums a bit of a hard time earlier this year for their lack of progression since their debut; a criticism that some have levelled at Real Estate, but Days is proof that there’s nothing wrong with a band having a distinctive sound – or even a derivative sound – as long as they continue to do something imaginative with it. Days may not be the most ambitious album of the year, but perhaps Oscar Wilde was right when he said “ambition is the last refuge of failure”. Then again, perhaps he was talking a load of bollocks. Either way, when I spoke to Martin Courtney just after the release of Days, he said that the band wanted it to sound “timeless” and it certainly does.