Album Review // W. W. Lowman - Kumquat May
This is the first review of many releases that I received in the post this morning from 5RP - awesome work Julien! There are many more to follow…
After a few years since the release of Plain Songs, Chicago-based W. W. Lowman is back again with an enticing second album. It’s taken two years to collect and record the tracks but as they say patience is a virtue, and in this case the virtue has paid off incredibly well.
Starting off the album is ‘Bourge’ - filled with guitar harmonics and ambient horns this track really makes for a great introduction to what eventually develops into an ambiguous and diverse collection of musical styles. The second track ‘Cuts like a Knife’ presents an electronic element to the album with a staggered synth line and heavily modified robotic vocals. Once again this track is overflowing with textures constituted from the wide range of instruments involved.
Kumquat May then progresses into an almost low-fi trippy folk feel for the third track ‘Cannonais’ before its pop roots reemerge in ‘Some Song that Is’, a track that captivates the overall atmospheric, horn-led upbeat touch.
The fifth, and our favourite track ‘Stout Leroy’ is by far the most differential piece in terms of its alternative drum rhythms that employ a range of intriguing short & and tight beats interconnected by unexpected breaks and rests. This track maintains an almost math-rock feel to it, mainly owing to the drums, yet once again the ever prevalent role of the trumpets is apparent, this time accompanied by lots of distorted guitars making for a much heavier track as the sound climaxes.
‘Ly Roo Kay’ takes the tone down again as a piano/violin duel composition, followed by the jazzy ‘Half to Love’. The final track returns full circle to the opener creating a vast soundscape of reverberated instrumental wails, almost as a slight warm down after the past 44 minutes of ever-changing styles.
Tracklisting:
1. Bourge
2. Cannonais
3. Cuts like a Knife
4. Some Song that Is
5. Stout Leroy
6. Ly Roo Kay
7. Half to Love
8. Gnawsh
Kumquat May is out as of today (9th September 2011) on Atavistic and we highly recommend grabbing a copy.
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Words Edd Colbert
