The Dark Water Hymnal: Collapse the Structure [Album Review]

On Collapse the Structure, the Dark Water Hymnal explore the humbling, haunting depths of the folk ballad. The Austin band’s first full-length release, As Above, So Below gained comparisons not only to indie folk darlings like Iron & Wine and Will Oldham, but to southern storytellers like William Faulkner. On this, their second album, the band continues to flex their emotional range. Their style, particularly Jeremy Ballard’s vocals, is reminiscent of the Manchester-based Brit folk band James. The Dark Water Hymnal’s soaring anthems should resonate with fans of Okkervill River, and, in fact, Erik Wofford who mixed and mastered Collapse The Structure has previously worked with both Okkervill River and Explosions in the Sky.

Collapse the Structure revels in emotional appeals, but steers clear of the overtly maudlin. The Dark Water Hymnal may be making folk music, but it’s a folk music enriched by decades of rock and roll, a folk music for people who know what suburbs are. Their sound is decidedly modern even as they look backward for inspiration.

The result is a lovely, swooning kind of album, owing in part to the plaintiff quality of Andrea Couch’s violin work. “Black Confetti,” which features additional vocals by members of One Hundred Flowers and Polar Optimist, has the feel of an ecstatic church hymn. The bells, played by Mike Huebner, are used to great effect on several tracks, including “Center of the Spark” and “Whole City Glows.” Despite the instrument’s lullaby quality, the overall arrangement avoids an overly twee effect.

Even at their sweetest or most triumphant, the tracks on Collapse the Structure have an eerie, off-kilter quality. They haunt the listener just as surely as murder ballads or the silent desolation rural desert nights do.

Note: the Dark Water Hymnal are playing at the Mohawk this Wednesday, January 5th as part of Free Week.

The Dark Water Hymnal: [official] [MySpace]

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By Carly Kocurek in Arts & Entertainment on January 4, 2011 1:01 PM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

Miranda

I like this album. I also listened to it many times with my new laptop that I bought last time at http://www.laptopbestprice4u.c...

Gabe Kirchner

I have been lucky enough to have a copy of this album for the last 2 months. I've listened to it so many times that I would have put it in my top ten for 2010 save for the fact that the album is being formally released later this month. The music is great, but the lyrics are what really put this album in Okkervil River's league.