It's downright fruity in the best way possible. To me this music is about dirt and nature. I have no other way
to describe it. First some background...
I got into these guys a little late around the time of their "Golden Archipelago" record and on first listen it failed to impress. I had read a lot of great reviews for their albums "Palo Santo" and "Rook" which I admittedly have still not heard. At the time I had purchased "Golden Archipelago" it was a little too complicated and refined for my moods, but then something strange and terrible happened. My dad became terminally ill and started going down hill very fast. I had my iPod on shuffle one day while trying to find a parking spot at the hospital and the first song "Meridian" came on and I just sat there for a while and really listened to it for the first time. I was kind of blown away by it. It took on a dramatic, soothing and cathartic vibe and I was moved.
The music of this band is a bit more refined than what i am normally into. I generally like raw, emotional records, but these guys give you that in a majestic way. I kind of got a Van Der Graaf Generator vibe from it.
It was theatrical and conceptual and little bit melodramatic.
What happened not too long after the consummation of my love for this group was pretty bizarre. At my wife's behest, she suggested I go out one night to blow off some steam. As it happened, Shearwater was actually playing a gig in Tallahassee that night. So I went out to see them and Damien Jurado and proceeded to get supremely fucked up. I was due the next morning to visit an oncologist with my father and family to receive what we all feared would be his death sentence. In this heightened emotional state, I took it all in. I got to meet Thor Harris, Shearwater/Swans drummer who turned out to be a swell guy. Steve Dollar was kind enough to introduce me to him. I watched the whole show and also talked for a short bit with Jonathan Meiburg, the leader of the band and its lead vocalist. He has the kind of dramatic vocal style that generally goes missing in a lot of so called indie circles. He has a technically rich and powerful voice.
People don't generally sing in that kind of serious style anymore. It was refreshing. Anyway, he was nice enough to listen to what were probably incoherent meanderings. That band cleansed my soul and gave me a terrifying night. I pretty much had a monumental breakdown later on that night...my God.
"Animal Joy" is their new album and is a little more straightforward and dare I say "rocking" in parts. I quite like it. I recommend it. Great songs and musicality. Proggy even. So you know I'm down! I'm a sensitive man.
