Shaded Houses caught all of my attention with the new album “Family Trees” and it’s like a journey put together with real care instead of just five tracks placed next to each other. It’s one of the best instrumental releases I’ve heard in the last few months. I don’t often spend this much time with music like this, but this album kept me interested from beginning to end. I found myself paying attention to small sounds in the background and little details that could easily be missed.
Built around quiet instrumental pieces, the album touches on memories, loss and moving forward without needing a single lyric to explain any of it. The atmosphere is unique but not heavy at all and everything is easy on the ears but there is always something happening beneath the surface that keeps the music moving. I loved every second here and the sound design deserves a lot of credit. Each of the five tracks was clearly shaped with patience. You can hear passion, care and strong musical skill throughout the record. Shaded Houses creates music that speaks without words and honestly took me somewhere else while I listened. That’s not something I say very often about instrumental albums.
I’ll definitely keep Shaded Houses on my radar because this debut left a strong impression on me. If future releases carry the same level of thought and care, I’ll happily spend more time with this project and write about the music again. Albums like this don’t come around for me very often.
