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J. Tillman at the Mohawk - Giveaway
Listening to Shearwater’s latest album is a bit like listening to a haunted backwoods church choir from another planet. You could dance to the tracks on Palo Santo if you wanted, but you could probably also speak in tongues.
This impression largely results from the tendency of some songs to swell in instrumentation toward the end. “White Waves” follows this format, starting out as a relatively stripped-down piece led by an acoustic guitar, then rising to a heady crescendo over its course. By the end, the track practically demands that you wave your hands over your head in a semi-reverent fashion. “Seventy-Four, Seventy-Five” adheres to a similar structure, though it occasionally backs down from its headiest points. In these and other tracks, the effect is not unlike that of the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want;” the musical style may be different, but the effect is similar.
By contrast, the album’s title track, “Palo Santo” is almost like a lullaby strung across vibraphone and acoustic guitar. “Nobody” has a similar appeal, the instrumentation lending a bit of eeriness.
Palo Santo shows Shearwater progressing from straight-forward folk tunes to something richer and harder to pin down. Folk elements remain prominent, but the band demonstrates skill at pilfering the best elements of other genres as well. Bits of gospel, rock, and even classic Brit pop are in the mix, as is a bit of early Velvet Underground. When belting out tunes, vocalist Jonathan Meiburg can sound a bit like Tim Booth of James.
Taken as a whole, Palo Santo is like a series of lush musical landscapes. The album pays homage to indie rock dynamos like John Darnielle and experimental superstars like John Cale, weaving a variety of sounds into something distinctive, yet accessible. Shearwater manages to be interesting without descending into obscurity, remaining listenable even at their most unfamiliar. While Palo Santo is a well-done album on its own, it also demonstrates the abilities of the band, and a few listens could convince anyone that the band is well on their way to creating some truly exceptional work.
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