Jonathon Meiburg's keening, rich voice is something I never tire of particularly on 2008's Rook, Shearwater's previous album, where he effortlessly transported you to another otherworldly place. A dreamily strange world. With a sad joy at it's heart.
So obviously in light of the fact that great songs like 'Rooks' and 'Snow Leopard' are now a dim and distant 18 months old there's a real excitement to hear the new songs. Feel the new mood.
The Golden Archipelago begins in suitably incongruous mood setting up the castaway islander theme with the restrained, delicate Meridian which in turn gives way to the stunning Black Eyes. We're on familiar ground but it's not a case of more of the same this is songwriting of great craft and wide imagination deserving of all the praise they receive.
It's not all plain sailing around the Shearwater island, it must be said, the album hits a bit of a brick wall with God Made Me slap bang at its centre and the couple of songs bringing it to a close, Uniforms (like an even more experimental Arcade Fire)and Missing Islands sit uneasily with the honed, thematic notions of earlier but they remain stand out tracks in isolation.
If this were Desert Island Discs and only one album accompanied you in your shipwrecked paradise, you could do a lot worse than clinging on to The Golden Archipelago when you head overboard.
http://www.myspace.com/shearwater
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