Ever sat listening to the latest electro-synth supposed awesomeness of the ‘next big thing’ and wondered why bands no longer sound like Townes Van Zandt, or ‘Nebraska’/’The River’-era Bruce Springsteen anymore?
Well, it turns out doing this doesn’t mean that you’re ‘out of touch’ musically, and you’re not alone.
Okkervil River always had a touch of ‘The South’ to their sound – many bands do, it’s what country music is – the difference is their sound has also always contained a scope and emotion that resonated further than country often can, at least for those outside of ‘The South’.
However, ‘Always’ is something different. It’s both deeper into the country and further removed at the same time. Which sounds ridiculous, but if we put it another way, it makes more sense. ‘Always’ is basically country-jazz.
Okkervil River at every stage of this album seem less concerned with structure and more concerned with atmosphere. It’s a route that works extremely well for soulful southern musings and wistful laments. The tone is almost conversational, with song structures so loose they’re almost imperceptible.
It all begins with the startlingly brilliant ‘Okkervil River RIP’, astonishing, utterly heartbreaking and beautiful. Somehow reminiscent of Springsteen’s ‘Mansion On The Hill’ but also of Belle & Sebastian’s ‘This is Just a Modern Rock Song‘s delicate yet powerful stream of consciousness. It’s followed by ‘Call Yourself Renee’, which is more of a continuation. It’s a wonderfully sprawling conclusion to the opening track with snatches or tones of ‘Triad’ by CSNY or even the Jefferson Airplane version.
These two outstanding tracks simply set the scene for the rest of the album; ‘Comes Indiana Through The Smoke’ is charming, ‘Mary On a Wave’ loose and intriguing. And ‘Frontman In Heaven’ feels like Sonny & Cher covered by the Kings Of Leon – it’s light and playful.
There’s just so much going on at every stage of the record. Songs are long but need to be as confining them would seem criminal. It also needs this time to achieve its point. The record has a huge breadth, incorporating so many styles and flavours very delicately.
It’s not just Springsteen and Van Zandt, or artists, or that ilk and generation, that are looked to here. There’s also contemporary elements and stylings. It could be a wonderful companion piece to Canyon’s 2002 masterpiece ‘Empty Rooms’, even a country cousin of Noah & The Whale’s beautiful ‘The First Days Of Spring’, replacing that album’s stilted, uncomfortable Britishness and heartbreak with a brooding, natural Americana majesty. Only that description sounds nowhere nearly as brilliant or interesting as this album is.
‘Away’ is a sprawling record that seems to push beauty and natural songwriting to its limit. This rambling shamble through the minds of the band is fascinating, powerful, brash, brilliant, exciting and somehow quiet and reserved.
