When The Haar Rolls In

Baroque indie folk pop. The record company sent a raving review by Phil Selway of Radiohead, so maybe use it on the air? This is pretty good stuff; lush folk music with timpani, clarinets, violins, vibraphone, concertinas, pianos, mandolins, bouzoukis, banjos, and wine glasses on top of acoustic guitar. All songs seem to follow the structure of soft guitar beginning-->lush choruses/instrumentals, and cycles back and forth. The album is a bit spotty, but this is easy enough to like. FCC on 4

1. Lush folk, with harpsichord, accordion, piano, strings, cello?, backing male vocals come in at 2:45, choruses are rich(5:56)
*2. More upbeat pattern, percussion is present, backing female vocals, about tortoises, foxes, and hares?, woodwinds(3:58)
3. Melancholic, somewhat bitter, wonderful piano line, hypnotic chorus, strong lyrical focus on this song, bass is prominent in parts(4:29)
4. Title track, simple hook, deep vocals, storytelling, slow builder, horns, alternates between exploding into rich instrumentals with an almost Spanish feel to it and the softer strumming, backing woodwinds at times, FCC; one ‘fucking’, (6:55)
5. Rhythmic guitar, but laid back, prominent strings, backing female vox, almost a country feel to this one, lyrics and instrumentation reminds me of Okkervil River’s ‘A Stone’(5:25)
*6. Soaring choruses with female and male vocals, dark sound, sounds sort of like Andrew Bird but with a less commanding voice, rhythmic, driving song(6:37)
7. Tinny guitar, gentle vocals open, song then opens up with female vocals, rich instrumentation, ends somewhat abruptly, sweet swells of gracious moody beauty (3:20)
8. Personal lyrics, gentle strums, prominent woodwind solo, (4:09)
9. Longer track, builds to a climax with rhythmic guitars, pianos, woodwind interludes, tremolo picking, bittersweet melody, (8:32)