2011, whilst being incredibly gloomy in all its other endeavours, was a tremendous year for music where the common theme of the day appeared to be in the guise of a post-blues sound, which is where we found ourselves completely immersed in this 3rd offering from New Orlean’s band Mutemath. A band so hard to define in its very nature, they pushed themselves once more to further add to their impressive musical palette with this delightful, blues-tinged album. At its peak, ‘Odd Soul’ stands magestically as a very testatment to their talent and conscientiousness to drive and evolve their sound which is why ‘Odd Soul’ was IndiePoint’s album of the year for 2011. Have a great new year and see you all in 2012!
Rest Of The Top 5: 2.City and Colour (Little Hell), 3.The Antlers (Burst Apart), 4.Death Cab For Cutie (Codes and Keys), 5.The Black Keys (El Camino)
Dallas Green returns for his third effort with side project ‘City and Colour’ with soulful repose and ambitious vision. ‘Little Hell’ marks a new chapter in the City and Colour story and it provides plenty of breath-taking twists and turns throughout each song, adding a new-found depth in sound that adds to an already soothing musical palette that gave us such relaxed and contemplative pleasure in 2008’s ‘Bring Me Your Love’. From the very first listen of preview song ‘Fragile Bird’, a collective sharp intake of breath could be experienced amongst the many ‘City and Colour’ fans as they stumbled, in a somewhat surprised manner, upon a song that would indicate the “game-changing” aspect of ‘Little Hell’. And while listening to the album in its entirety, you find that the surprise is completely delightful, even if it was so very unexpected in nature.
City and Colour made their rounds through sorrowful, stripped-down acoustic songs that relied heavily on the talents of Dallas Green’s voice and almost story-like lyrics. So, songs on ‘Little Hell’ may at times make you question the fact that you are listening to a ‘City and Colour’ album, however there can be no denial in these songs such as ‘Natural Disaster’ and ‘Weightless’ that Dallas Green’s talent has continued to glisten with emotive words ,thoroughly complemented by the fuller guitar riffs and imposing drum beats that presides over the songs with an often country-tinged disposition. ‘Fragile Bird’ itself is a delightful highlight, basking in its glory at the peak of ‘Little Hell’s towering summit and when you look down to the very bottom, you can truly appreciate the giant leap forward that ‘City and Colour’ has made with this latest offering. While ‘Little Hell’ reveals the new sounds of the band, it also leaves space to showcase ‘City and Colour’s natural strengths in naked acoustic numbers such as ‘Northern Wind’ which revels in the serene metaphoric prose that Dallas Green interweaves within it. Taking a balanced mixture of the older stripped-down songs with the fresher and fuller, soulful style of a new ‘City and Colour’, there is a certain sense of transition about this album that lingers subtly in the background of every song, right the way through to the very end, that promises even greater things to come from a project that is just starting to give every indication that it is blossoming into brilliance, if it hasn’t done so already.
Recommended Songs: ‘We Found Each Other In The Dark’, ‘Natural Disaster’, ‘Fragile Bird’, ‘Northern Wind, ‘Sorrowing Man’.
Overall: City and Colour takes a big leap into brilliance, with an all-together heavier and soulful leaning on ‘Little Hell’.
Reviewed By Nima Alagha
City and Colour - Fragile Bird
First single from the upcoming new album ‘Little Hell’ by City and Colour. For more news and album reviews check out http://indiepoint.tumblr.com
An attempt to talk about and review music and all other things musical using as few words as possible. Its not lazy, its just efficient.
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