Wooden Arms
– Tide (Butterfly Collectors Records)
Vinyl/CD/DL
Out Now
Alternative
Chamber Music band release their new album.
The initial
tones of opening track December are intriguing if not beautiful. Violin strings and piano make for a
captivating experience, almost Kate Bush like (that comparison will almost
certainly be used again), it reeks of class and genius. The softest of vocals compliment the music
perfectly as drums, trumpets and continuing sweeps of violin magnificently gel
and become instantly at one. Breaking
into a near trip-hop beat as the track fades, it’s an incredible piece of
music.
The theme of
chamber music flows though the album but rather than appear high-brow, it
communicates the Wooden Arms sound dramatically and offers an alternative to today’s
often mundane pop. Vicenarian does go
slightly more along the pop line, bit again the gorgeous violins and near
doo-wop vocals take it to another level.
Title track,
Tide confidently evokes feelings of ebbing waves flowing and caressing the
beaches. Vocal interplays between male
and female voices are superbly arranged and seems to cascade against a backdrop
of strings and piano. Rising and falling
then rolling again Tide sounds like two, maybe three short songs interwoven
together. For the final minute, rousing
drums enter and the choral harmony towers confidently above all else.
Again, the
Bush comparison comes in the form of the backing to Noah. A one chord only simple yet successful movement
perhaps serving as an interlude to the albums final tracks Waiting and False
Start, the latter of which appeared on their critically acclaimed debut EP last
year. Both tracks are pensive and
bountiful in their continuing nothingness.
Wooden Arms don’t go overboard in their arrangements as they don’t need
to. Simplicity is the key to creating a
sound that is nothing short of sumptuous.
The downside
to Tide is that there are only six tracks.
Maybe a pre-cursor to a longer, inevitably towering collection, Wooden
Arms have the talent and skill to create masterpieces of often spectacular
class.
9/10
Links
Published on Louder Than War 15/10/14 - here
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