A Boston quartet whose fourth album Everything is Alive initially seems too shrouded in earnestness to really work but makes its way to the light.. Really this is a band that could have existed at the beginning of the Nineties or the Seventies. They worm their way to the core of each song with an almost religious solemnity.
You get the impression that these songs were recorded in the round. With band members looking into each others eyes. It risks becoming relentlessly serious after a few tracks but suddenly songs chisel out a genuine resonance.
I thought of Fleet Foxes at some points and Sufjan, My Morning Jacket and Iron & Wine at others. I worked my way through my, 'phase and found it a gentle and moving start to my Sunday morning. And best of all it became better and better with every song. By the end I was actually thinking of R.E.M.'s Automatic For The People. I know no higher praise.
Most importantly Darlingside understand the essence of crafting a song and as the record came to its midway point it began to yield genuine, lasting beauty, By the rime it had run its course I was sold. Worth a punt and persevere would be my advice.
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