Releasd 15/02/09


Matador Records



Okkervil River fans may be mistaken in thinking that ex-band member Jonathan Meiburg's side project Shearwater have an output in any ways similar to the narrative driven angst-folk which he and Will Sheff so expertly concoct with their most well known band.
 
Both Meiburg and Sheff formed the band just over a decade ago; with the latter stepping down from his position in 2005. Since then it has been Meiburg's project alone, and, fittingly someone that is a qualified ornothologist, the direction and themes of the albums he treats us to are otherwordly to say the least.
 
2008's Rook was written in the Galápagos Islands and this year's follow up, beautifully titled The Golden Archipelago, is, thanks to Matador's synopsis, "the third album in a triptych of excursions about man's impact on the natural world".
 
This theme is perfectly protrayed in the shifting of moods throughout the album, from opening lulling track "Meridian", to the celestial xylophone chimings of "Hidden Lakes" and the threatening, almost violent "Corridors", which somehow brings to mind images of waves crashing against these vulnerable archipelgos.
 
It is such a juxtaposition that makes the album both honest in its message yet conversely proves to be its downfall in terms of accessibility. Iydillic landscapes against those of danger, civilisation versus isolation and the discovered versus the undiscovered are all recurrent themes carefully channeled through music that encapsulates our striving to predict the often threatening behaviour that such beauty in nature must arguably counteract.
 
It is an expertly recorded album with crystal clear production from John Congleton who worked with soundscape gods Explosions in the Sky on their most recent release All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone. The instrumentation is delicate and intricate to match the similarly paired vocals which at times find themselves to be troubador-esque, especially in the track "God Made Me", which being the most musically simplistic brings to mind something like Simon and Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair" in its initial opening.
 
Like many concept albums-OR's Black Sheep Boy or Joanna Newsom's Y's- this album proves that it is the completeness of tracks and their collective meaning when taken as a whole that really count, as opposed to a mere single standout track.
 
It is probably, for most, something listened to when in a very specific mood: the melodrama and bipolar nature of it becoming all a bit overwhelming if digested in a hurry. However when you do give it a spin you are whisked away to these most dreamlike, beautiful and threatening islands: A perfect piece of escapism.
 


7/10

Posted In Album Reviews, Feb 17 2010. Words - Melanie