Hands up who’s heard of Shearwater. Okkervil River? Thought not. Shearwater have just released their EIGHTH album and are essential a duo, Jonathan Meiberg and Will Sheff, both of whom may be better known for their work with Okkervil River, a band that play predictable alt-country tinged indie and so won’t be featuring here! Shearwater, on the other hand, exude a far lusher texture and captured me fully on their superb “The Golden Archipelago” in 2010. The new album, released last week, is called “Animal Joy” and well worth checking out. ‘Insolence’ is something of a slow burner, so persevere and it will get under your skin.
Bummer album of the week this time goes to The Fray and, for once, I guess I listened to it knowing it wasn’t going to impress. The scariest thing about it is that it makes you realise how close Coldplay are to Michael Ball. Any band that carried the tag ‘piano rock’ is going to be dodgy (Toploader, Keane) and I’m afraid the listening experience was difficult. Don’t try it at home please.
