Alt-country. The Deep Dark Woods are a Canadian roots rock band who last released Hang Me Oh Hang Me (in the a-file recently), which I had the pleasure to review, and was most excellent. This is their third album, and while some tracks are a step forward, I would say the majority of this is a step backward from Hang Me Oh Hang Me, which was more energetic, and trailblazing in its exploration of dark, moody, alt-country. Hang Me Oh Hang Me had Neil Young-esque jams, cathartic rockers, moody, watery dirges, and solemn acoustic ballads. Many of these tracks revert back to the country rock formula, (which they do very well) but the band shines most when they wander about the dark, dreary landscapes that the Saskatchewan winters provide as inspiration. The album is still not bad and is definitely ‘more mature’ and more chill than its predecessor; the back half is solid, the leadoff track is great too, and the production is very good. Start with 1 or 9, and then 6 or 12. But 1 and 9 are the best. No FCCs.

**1. This is like early The National. Dark, slow, somber, alt-country, chamber pop, sweet backing vocals. Excellent. (3:43)
2. Fiddles, countrified. Alt-country rock for those of you into that.(3:34)
3. Slow-tempo piano ballad, with pedal steel guitar, backing vocals, warm acoustic guitar. Mellow alt-country. (5:56)
4. Banjo, acoustic guitars, slide steel guitar, simplistic tune with a folky production focus. Organ solo at the end. (4:09)
5. A retro feel to this one, is that a doo-wop feel? I don’t know, but prominent backing vocals, slow, rhythmic. Bright, sunny…surprisingly. (3:44)
*6. Slow folky intro. This one sounds like a cross between My Morning Jacket (especially the reverby vocals) and Neil Young. Great instrumentation, but this never explodes like it could. (6:02)
7. Back to simple country rock, with slightly distorted vocals and crunchy rhythm guitars. (4:28)
8. Echo-y electric guitars and fiddles open track, slow ballad. (4:08)
**9. Organs, slow, dramatic. Song has a great story about a hanging, fantastic backing vocals, and excellent chorus with wrenching minor key chords. Guitar solo is simple and good. Memorable. (4:42)
10. Prominent vocals over soft acoustic guitar, morphs into alt-country ballad. Better than a lot of the other alt-country on here. (4:01)
11. Title track. Accordion, acoustic guitar, brushwork, mellow. (3:08)
*12. Bluesy, organs, sort of classic rock track with big solos. Clapton, My Morning Jacket (especially), Neil Young come to mind. “Oh the sun never shines.”(8:36)