AWmusic

In part because I thought it’d be fun to have back to back picks of the week with the word ‘Whale’ in the title of the band name, and in part because I’ve been listening to Noah and the Whale’s The First Days of Spring almost exclusively this week, I present to you… Noah and the Whale’s The First Days of Spring… that was anti-climactic...

Before seeing Noah and the Whale at Criminal Records a couple of weeks ago they weren’t on my radar screen at all. I’m fairly confident they were/are a pretty hip/happenin’ blog band, but I just never got on board — I’m not a sheep! After seeing them and enjoying the 3/4/5 songs that they played, I was ready to give The First Days of Spring a few good listens, but I wasn’t expecting it to light my world on fire or anything.

And it hasn’t… it’s not that kind of album. It is, after all, a break-up album. I see you’re processing that whole Spring metaphor they’ve used… re-birth, new beginnings, very clever.

What strikes me about the band and their album is how affecting I’ve found them both, particularly given that I’m in the opposite place in my own life (soon to be married — sorry ladies). It’s not just the symphonic string arrangements, although they’re certainly part of the whole mood, but it’s the way that the vocals – very somber, conversational, and almost hoarse at points – create this really beautiful contrast. It feels a little bit like the post-relationship reflection of a dumpee, looking back at all the relationship without remembering all the awful things that happened in the relationship that led to the break up in the first place.

Here’s hoping the boys in Noah and the Whale manage to bust whatever slump they were in with this new album. It’s very good, and if that’s in indication, they should have their pick of groupies so that the next album will turn out a little happier… I’m sensing a bikini inspired, beach themed summer album…

[mp3] Noah and the Whale – Blue Skies
[mp3] Noah and the Whale – Blue Skies (the Twelves rmx)