Like a hotel’s plastic fruit, Family Time have slowly been hardened by their surroundings. Weeks spent on the road hitting Spanish hotel resorts, dipping in the sea and getting sunburnt is enough to wrinkle any person, but, they’ve turned their hard graft into art, and the result, The Great Abismo, is a triumph.
My mum embarrassed me at several points during my first listen through, however, as she described it as the following: “the kind of music you’d play whilst you and your love laid naked on a sheep’s wool carpet with champagne and strawberries dipped in chocolate, before you did unspeakable things to each other.” Although, not a repulsive image in itself, my mum painting it was enough to make my skin crawl.
But yet, she is right. The record runs on passion. Whether it’s charisma or sex appeal, it has that kind of “I’ll do it, no matter what” attitude. You know the kind that makes you want to dig out that old Casio keyboard from under your bed and make a name for yourself. But, with charisma comes confidence, and confidence can lead to excess. But, alas the record is paced and considered.
Most of all, it’s honest, it knows exactly where its come from – a mad sprawl into the bizarre underbelly of Spanish resort holidays. It could quite easily have collapsed into overindulgence, lost in its own body like a shard of crisp in a fat man’s poolside folds. But instead, we have an excellent chronicle, a collection of songs that sum up perfectly a journey or a trip. From the opening sequence of checking-in to that sad holiday room goodbye, you are enjoying it in style, grateful of decadence.
I mean sure there’s a couple of hiccups, like any good trip away, but overall it’s carefully crafted to keep the listener comfortable, like a complimentary pillow mint or a rolled-up towel. And really, in true all-inclusive style, it takes you to the beach in a minibus, chaperones you home after you’ve got plastered, and never lets you go hungry again.
Haiku Review
Two guys, one journey,
and a hell of a record.
ATOL Protected,
… As we think this record may well slip under a few of our reader’s radar, we thought we’d write a little screenplay for an advertisement video, you know so you get the picture literally.
Fade in – exterior. Hotel taxi rank – night.
-Taxi pulls in-
Close up. The bonnet.
-The pink and blue neon lights of the “Hotel Magic Abyss” reflect in the polished yellow-
Angle on shot. Car door opening, the boys get out and walk.
Narrator – “Family Time have done it all, seen it all, and put it on wax. 12 sensational deep resort cuts for lounge-dwelling gentle men and women alike.”
Tracking shot from int. to ext. The boys push revolving doors, 180 camera spin with them.
Narrator cont. – “This is two guys. One journey. And a hell of a record.”
Portrait shot, side-on. Concierge hands over a key, smiling.
Concierge – “Enjoy your stay.”
Tracking shot over shoulder. Boys walk to the lift, press button.
*ping*
-indistinct chatter, the lift fills up, ‘The Grand Collide’ fades in-
Tracking shot, moving backwards.
-The camera moves slowly, from int. to the ext. revealing the neon hotel sign-
Title card in shaking overlay, yellow text.
Narrator – “The Great Abismo – book your stay today. (small print voice) ATOL protected.”
Fade out.
Listen to Family Time on Spotify and Apple Music.
