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I'm not a very emotional guy.  In fact, there are those who probably feel that I lack any emotions at all.  But this new disc from Serene just has me flying high.  This is perhaps one of the most beautiful albums I've heard in a long time.  I hesitate to use the word "pretty" because of all the connotations that brings with it, but the songs on this disc are pretty.  Not in a soft rock, love ballad kind of way.  This disc is filled with jangly swirling guitars, soaring melodies and lots of emotion. 

Serene is primarily the work of Ryan Beatty, a 21-year old who has listened intently to the music of bands like Sunny Day Real Estate, capturing the essence of 90s era emo without merely cloning what he has heard.  And he has brought together a great group of musicians, including drummer Jesse Sprinkle, as well as a guest shot from Morella's Forest vocalist Sydney Rentz (who adds a nice touch with vocals on songs like "The Angels are on Our Side.")  Members of 7 Head Division are also along for the ride.

Even at its heaviest, there is an airiness about this music, and unlike most bands steeped in the emo tradition; it is delivered without the typical self-centered hand wringing and emotional writhing.  This music is introspective, but Beatty isn't moping.  Many of the songs are about broken and lost relationships, with a nod to what might have been, but there is an inherent hope and optimism buried just beneath the surface.  And there is an element of spirituality.  As for those of us who are Christians, Beatty throws down the gauntlet in songs like "Last Words of a Fallen Angel," trying to spur us on to a faith with teeth.  Not just a faith based on what we have been told to believe by our parents or a particular denomination, but a faith that we have thoughtfully worked through on our own. 

Arena Rock was wise in picking up this band that is already making a splash at college radio.  This is an album any  fan of well-crafted indie-pop will want in their CD player.

Ken Mueller 10/21/02 
Radio Curator, The Museum of Television & Radio 

At first listen, Serene's self-titled release may seem to just be pretty music. However, repeated listens will reveal the music to be beautiful instead of just pretty, and the lyrical backdrop only contributes to this sonic art.

Ryan Beatty released most of these songs on the Beggars of the Sea album in 2000 on Lewis Hollow Records. Now, re-recorded and released on a larger label, Beatty's work is getting some exposure. Poor Old Lu member Jesse Sprinkle is also a major contributor to this album, both as a producer and a drummer. Also along to help are members of Morella's Forest and 7 Head Division.

Serene's music is admittedly influenced by Sunny Day Real Estate and Death Cab for Cutie, but heaven forbid that we slap an "emo" tag on it. Emotion is certainly something that Beatty's songs bear, but not in a whiny, depressed sort of way. The music is at times upbeat and at times slower. Mostly the guitars are restrained, though there are moments when the distortion pedals are hit and the sound gets a bit louder. The vocals of Ryan Beatty are generally used as an instrument more than a means of getting across a message. In this way, the mix reminds me a bit of Starflyer 59.

When you dig into the lyrics there's quite a bit to uncover. The whole album reads like a set of letters. All to the same girl, the topics obviously cover love and relationships, but also cast light on religion and truth. Ryan Beatty is a Christian, but he doesn't slam the listener over the head with it. The lyrics he pens are honest no matter if he mentions God or not.

From Beatty's guitar and vocals to Sprinkle's drums, this is an equal parts painful, soulful, and peaceful album. It works wonders on a slow, melancholy evening to bring the emotions full circle. 

Trae Cadenhead 10/27/2002

It seems that one of the characteristics of our age is that a work of art doesn’t have enough meaning unless it is dark and dreary. Whether in film, literature, or music, art doesn’t affect us unless it shocks us through sadly immoral narratives or fatalistically depressing “slices of life”. And nowhere is this notion clearer than in the independent music scene where it seems that so many artists seem to seek refuge from the meaningless jingly-jangly rhetoric of America’s insatiable Top 40 scene by creating dark and solemn worlds of their own. Because sad and solemn is meaningful isn’t it?

I admit, I fall victim to this notion. And it isn’t until something like the recent self-titled album by the indie-rock band Serene comes along that I can snap out of that misconception. An album whose very bright and perceptive melodic radiance makes for a profound musical adventure. The Arena Rock Recording Company’s latest addition is apparently the brainchild of the ultra- talented Ryan Beatty, accompanied by the likes of the Christian indie-rock scene’s intelligentsia: Jesse Sprinkle, Matt Greene, Joel Votaw, Brian Moore, and Sydney Rentz lending a wonderfully gentle hand on track six. 

Serene really is tough to nail down stylistically. Moving seamlessly through tempo and melody shifts the band seems to layer the pleasant dissonance of Sonic Youth’s happier moments over something like Tristeza’s transcendent approach to guitar-work. Not only are the innovative musical tendencies of the album remarkably uniform until the last two tracks, but Serene itself verges lyrically on a concept album. Somewhere in there is a story, and the lyrics read like we are outsiders looking in on a very personal exchange. But somehow it seems okay that we are a witness to it and the disc leaves us with the sublime impression of having come through something difficult and life changing.

The first track opens on a rainstorm and merges slowly into the counter- punctual riffs and undulating melodies that comprise the album itself. Somehow these melodies always end right back where they started with the vocals fitting perfectly into each song as an afterthought. The second track, "beggars of the sea," really gets the album started and introduces us to the incredible range of the vocalists on the album. The lyrics are delivered throughout with everything from the clarity of a school-boy harmony to something akin to the raw emotiveness of Ian Mackaye’s early Fugazi years. The next few tracks highlight the upbeat counter-punctuality of Serene’s style and build the vocals over grooves that make keen interior sense. "Sir Tumnus," the fifth track, is a great example of Beatty’s lyrical style. “The skin is cooling on my sunburnt feet...as I ride across the sand next to the sea...”Good music should fill us with images. Images that we take through the day as we whistle them like soundtracks. Serene tends to do this, and this album is as visually stimulating as it is listener-friendly. 

In the middle of the album we meet Sydney Rentz delivering the vocals for "the angels are on our side", and set against Serene’s sonic landscape she lands somewhere between The Sundays and Projekt labels latest starchild, Mira. Not to downplay the vocals on the album, but I did wonder through the rest of the tracks why they didn’t have her sing at least one more, they seemed to fit together so well. The next few tracks tread familiar, yet endlessly welcome territory. The uniformity of the album is never wearisome and you will find yourself enjoying the subtleties of each song in and behind the pleasant melodic haze. Track ten, "last words of a fallen angel," really bring all of the elements of Serene together in a spectacular way and leave you with a satisfying glimpse of an album you will want to return to as often as I have since I got it in the mail.

It is nice to have these albums that so effectively break me out of the solemn malaise of much of today’s indie-rock scene. Serene is simply an intelligently crafted, well-produced introduction to a highly successful musical collaboration. Behind the pleasant uniformity of their songs lies addictive and undulating subtleties that interweave Beatty’s lyrics with grace and meaning, leaving the album as a seamless glimpse into the power of comfortable music. 

You can find out more about their discography at  http:www.sereneuk.com.

Michael Leary  (11/2/2002)