'April brought us the latest album from The New Year entitled Snow. Hardly New Year. It was already Spring. But there had actually been a much longer wait for this album. The band had been working on it and refining it for the best part of ten years.
I won't say it's well worth the wait, for fear of a knock on my door from the cliche police, but it's certainly a fine record. With songs that unwind and stretch themselves lazily, melodically and confidently at their own pace, - some of them small classics, I'd single out Recent History, Myths andThe Beast in this respect. All driven by the classic line-up of guitars, bass, drums, voice and organs. It's a lovely record at the most tuneful end of slowcore, reminiscent of Low, the slower songs of Pavement and Dean Wareham, but definitely doing its own thing.These guys, (the band is constructed around the core of brothers Matt and Bubba Kadane), have been at this game for some time, coming from the ashes of Bedhead, almost twenty years back and working together as The New Year since and their experience and know-how shows.
They're clearly a band that believe in simplicity. Blank record covers of different shades featuring only the name of the band and the title of the album on it, one name song titles for the most part, avoidance of unnecessary poetic frills in terms of the lyrics. It's a formula that works very well on Snow. There's a warmth and clarity about all ten tracks here. It's not an album that's going to surprise you so much as reassure you that there are still people capable of making records like this and understanding the importance of doing so in 2017. Listening to Snow yesterday felt like sinking into a comfortable chair in front of an open fire, snow falling steadily outside the window with a tumbler of fine whisky on the table beside me. And we all know what a nice feeling that is!'
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