Have no fear, this folk ain’t sleepy! The title track feels like bicycling down a slight decline. No need to panic, but hey, I just keep on movin’. Kacey Johansing is above average at everything, and it provides for a well-balanced composition of musical goodness. This comes in handy because a lot of the songs are about five minutes long, but it’s not as bad as that seems. The trick perhaps has been revealed: Increase the tempo 20%, and you can make anything listenable.
This record is for the late 30s crowd, looking to take baby steps away from their old Cure records in the hopes of finding something else to identify with. You don’t expect to hear something like this without it being brooding, but such is not the case here. It’s remarkable how natural this album sounds.
Is “Angel Island” about Angel Island? It might be! Joanna Newsom comes to mind here, although perhaps Gavin is also pleased. “Oh, Brother” has a late ’70s organ that makes me think of Snoopy ice skating with Peppermint Patty, along with whistling between the verses. Don’t overlook this one.
“Photographs and Letters” sounds like A Girl Called Eddy meets KT Tunstall. It’s like guilt-free ice cream, it is. Is this going to be featured on an episode of “Grey’s Anatomy”? “Same Old, Same Old” would be even better with those old ’60s-style instruments that the Cardigans used to use before they decided to make money. It’s the same stuff structurally that you would find on “Life.”
“Sleepwalk” might be the only sleepy song on there, but it still gets along well. Whatever that “it” is that wonderful records have to have to be awesome, this one has it!
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