Lead single and album opener ‘Ida Red’ is the perfect introduction to the style. Taking inspiration from the likes of Linefork, KY banjo player and singer Morgan Sexton, who took classic Appalachian folk music and made it his own with layers of improvisation and quirk, the song finds Joseph Decosimo and co. carrying this torch forward. A blurring of the line between careful craft and inquisitive malleablity, entirely true to the musical history from which is descends yet never restrained by its conventions.

Photo by Robert Birnbach

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The band was expanded during the recording of Labor, with Dave Hadley (on pedal steel) and Andy Stack (of Wye Oak – on bass) joining regular members Bob Keal, Austin Stahl and Andy Abelow (who provided a lovely cover of ‘Two Years on Film’ on Slowcoustic’s J. Tillman tribute). These additions are particularly apparent on several tracks, including ‘The Salt’ (which you can hear in the player below) which has a bassline reminiscent of Elephant Micah (an artist the band profess a love for on their blog).

The entire album is filled with beautiful writing, poetic vignettes which compliment the style and pace of the instrumentation perfectly. I don’t have the lyrics to hand but from what I could gather by ear, there are several references to water and the sea, see for example on ‘The Salt’:

“Wandered into the water just in time to watch the salt lines climb up the wall”.

and on ‘Bloomington’

“I can’t follow you into the brackish water, where the oysters make their beds”.

The closing track, ‘Through The Blue’ is also heavily based around this theme and, again, is superbly written. My current favourite is the title track, with it’s opening of:

“Oh I swear I will find even more light in this coming year,
And the darkness will subside or bring focus unto the light.
I will build a shrine and within place my present mind,
Shaped from water, auburn earth, I will favour my lover over others.”

The song starts with a gentle guitar but swells and gains momentum as it progresses. The narrator delivers a pretty hopeful message of inspiration and promises to labour for his lover. I got some Strand of Oaks vibes, particularly from the electric guitar work later in the song. That has to be a good thing.

Every six months or so I tend to fall hard for a hushed and delicate folk album (past examples include Mountain Man’s Made The Harbor and Spirit Guides by Evening Hymns) and I think I have found my next one. The album has been on repeat all week and but I still can’t stop listening. Any fan of this type of music should be checking this out right away.

You can buy the album now on beautiful 140-gram white vinyl (in a sleeve featuring the art you can see above by artist Skye Gilkerson) or as a digital download, from the band’s Bandcamp page. As you may guess, it comes with my seal of approval.

P.S. The band are also going out on a North American tour with Peals, an experimental outfit made up of William Cashion of Future Islands and Bruce Willen of Double Dagger, who have recently released a very good album, Walking Field, on Thrill Jockey. Also check out the ingenious Furniture on their website, an interactive track comprised of 16 sound clips that the listener can play or adjust at their will. Get the tour dates here.

P.P.S. If you’re not familiar with Small Sur’s previous release, Tones, then 1. Take a good long look at yourself and 2. Get it here.

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Flock of Dimes is the solo project of Jenn Wasner from Wye Oak. She has just unveiled a new single, Curtain, on Merge Records. It’s more dreamy and chill than Wye Oak and I like it a lot. Listen to it in the player and then check out her Soundcloud page to listen to a few more tracks.

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What’s more, she has enlisted the help of a rather spectacular group of friends to feature and aid her in recording. Aaron Dessner (The National), Matt Barrick (The Walkmen), Zach Condon (Beirut), Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak), Thomas Bartlett (Doveman) and Julianna Barwick will all contribute. I would be keen to hear any release of hers but this dream-team, consisting of several of the most experience and accomplished figures in contemporary indie rock, should make this new record unmissable.

Tracklisting:

1. Warsaw
2. Give Out
3. Serpents
4. Kevin’s
5. Leonard
6. In Line
7. All I Can
8. We Are Fine
9. Magic Chords
10. Ask
11. I’m Wrong
12. Joke or a Lie

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I must admit I was pretty late to this bandwagon for this one. I first heard of Wye Oak from an interview with Titus Andronicus, who were singing their praises of during SXSW in 2010. They described how the drummer (Stack) also played keyboard – one with each hand! Remarkable.

To prove that this band are far more than a gimmick, the title track from the new LP can be downloaded here. I’d highly recommend it.

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