Starting off like a bad dream you cannot wake up from, Letters Letters opens their self-titled album up with screeching distortion that claws at the insides of your ear. Don't let the first track keep you from listening from the rest of this album because there is some merit to it. For this Montreal/Chicago three-piece band, their debut album does hit some rough spots with raw, and unconventional tunes. Sounding more mechanical than human, their rhythmic electronic work syncs together like a well-oiled machine. This is definitely an album that you must listen to more than once, before you can begin to appreciate all the layers of work they have put into it. All of the talent that Letters Letters has, seems to have been hidden underneath this industrial style of music and the droning vocals of lead singer Mitchell Akiyama. Not all is bad, some people will really love this album, because it is very different. The song “Everyone's Afraid of Fear” has a very interesting intro, which sounds like the wild amazon with a collaboration of instruments. After the intro pans out, Jenna Robertson takes over the lead vocals for the better and sings out that, “the unicorns have left their homes, everyone's afraid of fear.” This album is perfect for when you wake up and find that outside your window it is raining and dismal. On that sort of day, you should listen to this album. It won't make you feel better, but their music sounds just like you picture it. Letters Letters seem to try and get across a feeling more than anything, and if you are looking to feel happy, or have an intense sensation to start jumping around to some heavy bass, this is probably something that you wouldn't want to put into you CD player.Letters Letters in the end comes across as alien, distant, and cold.
