Shearwater : Rook

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.