Alela Diane & Wild Divine - Alela Diane

Track list:

1. To Begin
2. Elijah
3. Long Way Down
4. Suzanne
5. The Wind
6. Of Many Colors
7. Desire
8. Heartless Highway
9. White Horse
10. Rising Greatness

Running time: 38 minutes
Released: 2011

So we break with the Wedding Present for an unexpected interlude. Not a long time without a post (though that too), but three discs that I have picked up over the last couple of weeks.

The first of these comes from Alela Diane, who I was aware of but never actually explored before picking up Cusp when it released. Once I got that into the car for a few listens to and from work, I found a charming little album that immediately made me want to explore more. This dropped through my door a couple of days ago and I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet.

It starts with a bolder musical line than I was perhaps expecting, but it is a nice warm one, and supplemented very nicely by our singer's voice, which has an enveloping, drawing quality to it. Obviously this is a younger performer than the Alela Diane of Cusp, since the record predates it by 7 years, but that fact is also evidenced in the contrasting performances. Here there is a strut of youth rather than the reflection of one's 30s. I ordered this, To Be Still and The Pirate's Gospel at the same time; the other two arrived first and gave contrasting impressions. Wild Divine is on the better side of those two, more in common with To Be Still. 

On the evidence of the first two tracks I think this might become my favourite of the works I have picked up. I like the bolder, bigger sound and the easy flow. Whilst I was smitten with Cusp - which compared favourably with a couple of other 2018 albums I picked up around the same time, a result I think of no real expectations, as I found my hopes dashed a little by Ruins and I'll Be Your Girl by First Aid Kit and The Decemberists respectively - its appeal isn't visceral, but considered. The early tracks of Alela Diane & Wild Divine on the other hand just feel right from the off. The arrangements are nice and full, with enough of a big-sky America feel to them to trip that switch; Diane's voice is generally louder, bolder, here but in concert with the tunes behind her. Her tones have a warm sound that I find really engaging and were one of the primary drivers for me picking up all these other albums on top of that first introduction. 

To be honest, I think there are parts of Diane's songs which could be better; I am far from convinced by her as a lyricist as I find she relies too much on repetition. As I typed that I was thinking that trait was less evident on this disc than the others, but then it appears in The Wind... not in an offensive way, but in an apt one from a timing perspective.

Oh wow, I love the opening of Of Many Colors. The simple rhythm is nice but the strings of the guitars have such a nice roll to them... very American, but it feels small town, slow pace of life, rootsy. It's a sound that appeals... the myth of inland America as a storied place different from (what I imagine is) the reality of life in those parts. The mythic America is a place to visit in the imagination, full of wondrous places and tales aplenty; the real small town America appeals to me not at all.

This album is good at feeding that imagination.

I suspect I am missing finer details, because the general themes and tones are so strong and evocative I can't help but let my mind wander with those, drifting away from the specifics of the individual songs. And just like that I am almost through. The penultimate track just began, this a punchier twang to begin with, but then growing in refinement as the track builds. It then hops around between tones a bit, giving a bit of a strange overall impression. None of those tones are bad, but they don't necessarily feel as though they hang together perfectly. 

The strongest theme running through these tracks is the warmth of both the guitars and the vocal, it feels right for an evening. It has the country-ish edge to it that keeps it honest, but which also offers favourable comparisons with similar artists; whilst not American First Aid Kit at their best are a strong point of comparison, and I think Alela Diane comes off favourably in that. This album made for a good evening; I could quite happily repeat it... in fact I think I shall.

Castaways and Cutouts - The Decemberists

Track list:

1. Leslie Anne Levine
2. Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect
3. July, July!
4. A Cautionary Song
5. Odalisque
6. Cocoon
7. Grace Cathedral Hill
8. The Legionnaire’s Lament
9. Clementine
10. California One / Youth and Beauty Brigade

Running time: 49 minutes
Released: 2002

I got into The Decemberists with The Crane Wife. I remember really liking them at first but not really gelling with the direction they went later on - though I bought a couple more later discs before I stopped paying attention. Most of the Decemberists tunes that I can call to mind are from Crane Wife or Picaresque and even seeing them here, many of these titles inspire no memory at all. Rather than coming forward, this goes back to the start. As such, I hope this will be like rediscovering an old favourite.

We are straight into strident chords and a comfortable rolling pace, creating a solid base for a melody that is dominated by Colin Meloy's voice. The top end is really only there when the singing isn't, it counterpoints the distinctive accented style and long notes. Oh, it is there under the voices too, but subdued by them. I rather like this as an opening; it tells you instantly what the band are about - both musically and lyrically; it is a ghost story, whether invented or spun from traditional tales I know not.

There is a more lyrical quality to the next track (actually the transition was pretty seamless and I almost missed it). Here the music is more than just a support for the sung part. It isn't flashy, but there is more melody there; it sounds more "modern" - this is more clearly a pop song with tinges of the folk / Americana / country influences than a folk song, whereas Leslie Anne Levine had more of a rootsy feel to it. Suddenly there is another change; it feels as though this album sets off at a pace. Subconsciously I think I was expecting long drawn out tunes but the longest in the first half of the album is only a touch over 5 minutes. The second half is a little longer, but its really only two tracks that go beyond a standard pop-y, radio-friendly length.

Meloy's voice is not exactly musical, but it makes up for that with disctinctiveness. I can't quite bring to mind an appropriate adjective for it... there is I guess a certain whine to it, but I wouldn't call it whiny. It just has an uncomfortable stretch to it rather than a rounded sound. This actually works really well with some of the arrangements - meshing together to create an evocative sound; its perfectly suited for slow numbers like A Cautionary Song, for instance, where there is an edge to the track as a whole. I don't know if I have a thing for slightly odd voices, but I certainly have a few of them scattered through my collection.

Where there are keys here, they are an organ of some kind. This provides a shrill touch in Odalisque, for instance. In some ways the organ sounds out of place with the rest of the constructed sound - electric organs are certainly non-canonical for folk - but it offers a needed contrast. There is a lot of murkiness in this tune and the organ cuts through the swirling low guitars brilliantly. The next number drops all of that busy low sound altogether. In its place we have a low-tempo, largely piano driven melody with very clear and stark percussion. Cocoon does swell and crescendo in places, and when it does it has some real character, but I find the basic form of this track lacking in interest. The melody is over simple, and the vocal feels isolated, ungrounded and illustrates the weaknesses in the singing rather than adding interest to a more textured sound. It isn't a bad song by any stretch, just a little plodding and drawn out to really engage me.

There is perhaps more switching of tone than I was expecting on the disc. I guess I had mentally pigeonholed The Decemberists in a certain style. Of course as I think about it this seems ridiculous - there is plenty of variety on the albums that I can easily bring to mind. I suspect it might be a reflection of my lack of engagement with the direction they went later and of seeing them as a band that sings stories. I think the latter is still true, and a big part of the appeal, but there is no reason why stories need to be told in the same style.

I like the lyrical approach on The Legionnaire's Lament. The rhyming pattern and the structure of the lines has a gentle but fundamental appeal. Coupled with the way the words are delivered and the militarily precise percussion it sets the tune up brilliantly. It sounds sparse in arrangement but it has an incessant quality to it, a persistence. It isn't fast, but feels relentless, the snap of the snare carrying the tune along, right up to the denouement, when the top end are left to wind us out. This then provides a rather jarring transition as Clementine is so slow and low it almost feels like we have a vacuum. The drop in volume and tempo is enervating and ultimately leaves me with little interest in the song. This is a shame, because actually the gentleness of the track is rally well done, long notes that fashion a comfortable crucible for the words; it suffers for too much contrast with what came before. Too much contrast; that's not like me.

There is a comfort in California One, too. It has a stately pace, but a warm bassy thrum. Unfortunately I find that this only sustains it so far. That stately pace becomes a yoke, dragging it down once it becomes clear that there isn't going to be a lot more to the first half of this track.  My interest perks up again as we reach the hand-off from California One to Youth and Beauty Brigade. Tension appears, a taught segment with a low whisper, then a bit more pace. I find, though, that it doesn't last. The sounds don't quite gel for me, the organ too harsh, the crashing cymbals obscuring and dominating when they're hit. It leaves me feeling less positive about the album as a whole... funny how that can work; the final strains leaving a stain over the experience that preceded them. For all that, I enjoyed this listen. The raw ingredients that made up my first exposure to The Decemberists are all here, less polished than on The Crane Wife, but clearly in place. It makes me wonder if when I actually listen to them (eventually) I will increase my appreciation of the later albums, or re-enforce the impressions I carry around in my head.