Back in June we wrote about ‘Tamarack Gate‘, a single from EP Capsule II by New Hampshire folk outfit Party of the Sun. “Lush guitars dotted with gentle vibraphone and pattering percussion […] create what is a richly fertile soundscape,” we wrote of the track. “[Ethan] McBrien’s vocals wind[ing] their way through the world as one might a temperate forest, their slow quiet muted by drizzle and dew as they reflect on the value of a more sedate style of living.”
The track captured the spirit of the EP, which has now been released via Trailing Twelve Records. Psych-inflected folk songs anchored to the natural environments in which they were created, tracks possessing both tension and harmony, with Party of the Sun unafraid to follow sonic tangents in order to fully elucidate the themes. Which is how the “nylon boogie” of ‘Hymns Forgot‘ and its exploration of “an urban life removed from the peace of the natural world,” as we’ve put it previously, can sit next to the breezy joy of ‘Throughline’. Or the likes of ‘Thought I Knew’ and ‘Electric Night’, described as “ambient deconstructions” of songs from Party of the Sun’s back catalogue, can bookend the vivid verdant folk swells of ‘Tamarack Gate’.
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=3528290650 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small track=3678045639]
Closer ‘In The Hall’ serves as the perfect conclusion to the release. A slow-burning track aching with fondness and longing and but something else too. A conviction tied to the land itself. “In the hall of the heart,” opens the track, “you will feel the timeless torch burning through that worried doubt. Cause you are born to do your thing.” And though the cynics and detractors speak up, the feeling remains, returning at odd hours of the day.
When the night comes to pull right through you, another tangled plan, you say “I’ll find an hour to do my thing.” And the plot turns ever after, you’re gonna hear that drum and say “I don’t believe it was ever gone”
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=3528290650 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small track=1914033440]
Capsule II is out now via Trailing Twelve Records you can get it from the Party of the Sun Bandcamp page.