Real Estate
The Wee Small Hours: B-Sides and Other Detritus 2011-2025
Domino
No more sleepless nights for Real Estate. If they were fretting over finding a good home for these magical orphans, The Wee Small Hours: B-Sides and Other Detritus 2011-2025 should put the wistful indie-rock daydreamers’ minds at ease, as the well-curated compilation coalesces into a blissful, free-flowing listen — for the most part — that’s like a misty walk through the past, only there’s a purity test to take in the present.
True fidelity to their signature sound, neatly tied up in the most elegant of silvery slipknots, is realized in a twirling, slightly buzzy “Pink Sky,” a nostalgic new track snuggled in organ warmth and intricately woven guitars that fades into kaleidoscopic memory. Recorded the same day as their charming, upbeat rendering of Elton John’s “Daniel,” also included here and tighter and quicker than the original, “Pink Sky” was a fetching misfit, deemed to be unsuitable for their 2024 album Daniel. As it is, it’s a perfectly delightful introduction to this odds-and-sods gathering, where “Exactly Nothing” follows in gossamer, spellbound wonder, riding a distant merry-go-round of beckoning, whirling vocal harmonies.
Languid instrumental sketches, such as “Blue Lebaron” and “Two Part, Part Two,” soothe and fill in the collection’s awkward pauses with easygoing grace, as Real Estate seems to drift into a delicate, hazy reading of The Strokes’ “Barely Legal” and an utterly arresting cover of Television’s “Days.” Burning off the morning fog, their version of The Nerves’ “Paper Dolls” is a jagged, furious boil that’s as punk as Real Estate gets, disturbing the peaceful, easy feeling of this otherwise mellifluous set.
When “The Chancellor” veers off into unchartered electro-pop territory, it feels like it’s time to head back to the beach house to swing in a hammock of breezy pop artistry, but the glistening “Two Part” — methodical, sterling guitar interplay and all — is one last treat, a slowly unfolding fireworks display that gladdens the heart. Real Estate still makes everything seem so effortless.
