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Review
There is a subtle difference in the tan and inflexion of this, their fifth album and their first since 2006. It was recorded in Seattle but remixed in Iceland by Jón Birgisson of Sigur Rós and seems to bear the hallmarks of that migration. Moreover, rather than LaValle playing all the instruments himself as he usually does, he has involved all the members of his touring group, including multi-instrumentalist Matthew Resovich, guitarist Drew Andrews, bassist Luis Hermosillo and an Icelandic horn section, whose presence does indeed fill out this storytelling chorus.
On early tracks like Blank Pages, the mood is at once folkish and yet futuristic also – the vast, empty uncertainty of the post-rock world spread out yonder before us. However, as the album progresses, with its mix of violins, guitar, synths and fitful percussion, a paradoxical mood and feel is established – desolate yet comforting, glacial yet warm, remote yet intimate, never more so than on Summer Fog. At times, you're reminded of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra in their more ruminative moments. Occasionally, as with the scratchy backbeat of Within Dreams, or the rocky, percussive left turn taken on We Are, the trajectory of the album is temporarily disrupted – which is just as well, because if there's a danger about The Album Leaf, it's that their gentle strains can come across as unassuming and incidental.
However, with vocal contributions from The Black Heart Procession's Pall Jenkins and remixer Birgisson, A Chorus of Storytellers rises nicely to its resolution, with Almost There and Tied Knots bringing together all the strands, energy and personnel that make up the album to a quietly affirmative conclusion. --David Stubbs
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Customer Reviews
But...... this is I think their best yet, even better than the wonderful In A Safe Place! Although there is nothing to match Twentytwofourteen or Moss Mountain Town!!
Now using a full band, Jimmy LaVille is able to expand the sound, and the result is very rewarding. The vocal tracks There is a Wind, We Are, Falling from the Sun and Almost There are all excellent, but it is on the instrumental tracks where The Album Leaf really shine with Blank Pages and Stand Still the standout tracks. Mesmerising stuff, perfect music to relax to!
I ordered my copy from Japan and have the version with two extra tracks Look Back and Landing in Snow, and they are as good as the main album tracks. The Japanese version is also as usual a beautiful package and well worth obtaining in my view.
Definate 5***** material and my favourite album of 2010 to date.
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