Shearwater - Rook
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Music CD Cover
Artist: ShearwaterEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2008-06-03
Music Label: Matador Records
Soundtracks:
- On The Death Of The Waters
- Rooks
- Leviathan, Bound
- Home Life
- Lost Boys
- Century Eyes
- I Was A Cloud
- South Col
- The Snow Leopard
- The Hunter's Star
Free Music Notes for Rook
Free Music Review: A Step Down
Hit: 3 Stars
I really thought the band had found its identity with their last record, Palo Santo, and I was looking forward to an even more solid realization on the next release. But it sounds as though they have lost their way slightly. Too much of Rook sounds like an uninspired, formless, experimental half-effort, as though the band was faltering about where to go after Palo Santo. Too often, Jonathan Meiburg's vocals seem to fall back into old patterns from Palo Santo (compare that drop to the minor key at the end of the verse on "Rooks" with the exact same on Palo Santo's "Red Sea, Black Sea" as well as the similar tinge of it on Rook's "Leviathan Bound," and you get the idea.) "On the Death of the Waters" sounds like it could be an amorphous, workshop version of Palo Santo's "Hail, Mary." (Of course, the bonus track "North Col" follows roughly the same template as "Hail, Mary," only faster and more compact. But the song creates such an entirely different atmosphere-not to mention it is just a very beautiful song in itself. So, sometimes building off of past songs is a good thing.)
And, in my opinion, Meiburg relies a little too much on his falsetto voice; at times it comes dangerously close to being gimmicky, and is a dissonant distraction on some parts of some compositions. While it is lovely-to-breathtaking (especially live) and perfect for most moments, it can be tiring on the ear at times on this and past albums (though I've noticed some more welcome variation on Rook.) Meiburg's lower registers are just as powerful, beautiful, and moving, and would serve the songs better at some points.
This album has its own very gorgeous moments: "Home Life" and "The Snow Leopard," with their expansive, solid orchestration and vocals, are the gems of the bunch, and hopefully a foreshadowing of the direction for the next release. What is frustrating is that more than a few of the songs have an equal share of beautiful and provocative moments with some that fall flat. "Century Eyes," for example, drones monotonously along until the chorus, and then my ears perk up.
To me it is as though Shearwater is trying to go forward, and has balked at the edge of entering the next territory, so they are just kind of hanging around in the old one. Which would be fine, if that territory still yielded what it did in the past. They have managed a few steps on "Rook." But as for me, I'll be sticking to my copy of Palo Santo and waiting to see if Shearwater takes off on their next release.
Rook Poster
Austin's Shearwater return with the follow-up to "Palo Santo". "Rook" meditates on man's intersection with the natural world; the world after human beings are gone. A dark fairy tale encased in a cycle of songs. Jonathan Meiburg's bold, soaring voice still anchors the songs, which broaden his pastoral prog-folk chaotic celestial mindfuckery into new realms. Beyond the continuing touchstones of late Talk Talk, Nico, and John Cale, there are now allusions to Van Morrison and hints of Joni Mitchell. All set in a newly lush sonic gorgeousness of harp, strings, and woodwinds atop the magnificent rhythm section.Hailed as "almost impossibly majestic and beautiful" (NPR), Shearwater's 2006 album "Palo Santo? was a distinctly unique and alluring suite of ethereal but oddly disquieting art-rock songs. The album garnered worldwide attention and praise, and resulted in the band signing to MATADOR RECORDS (MOGWAI, PAVEMENT, YO LA TENGO). The Texan quartet?s singular combination of sonic abandon and restraint, spun around the soaring, otherworldly voice of part-time ornithologist Jonathan Meiburg has previously drawn comparisons to late-period TALK TALK and both the lovely and anxious moments of BRIAN ENO's early solo work. The new album "Rook? is its own animal. Though a similarly haunted, elegiac mood pervades the album, "Rook? takes the band into realms both richer and stranger. Bold, soaring vocals navigate the songs, which broaden the band?s pastoral prog-folk into new realms. It is more accessible and more accomplished than its predecessor, with a depth and grandeur that seem improbably packed into the album's tidy 35 minutes. The near-title track, "Rooks" is a slow-burning highlight, anchored by Thor Harris' thunderous kick drum, a booming organ and a stately trumpet line. Squalls of feedback have largely given way to sudden gusts of strings and woodwinds, though the band's fondness for unusual instrumentation remains intact - harp, hammer dulcimer, and a curiously carved metal box all take featured roles. Jonathan Meiburg and Will Sheff of OKKERVIL RIVER originally founded SHEARWATER in 1999 as an outlet for the quieter songs of which the two were working on. Okkervil River regularly tour Australia and have successfully built a solid fan base, admirers of the band will undoubtedly embrace the Shearwater connection.
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