Give in to love
There’s something disarmingly beautiful about this album. Not just the beauty contained in the songs, but also in the casual, almost nonchalant way this Texas twosome craft and perform them.
Papermoons first came to my attention last summer when I ordered their inaugural 7″ single from Vinyl Collective. In addition to being a ridiculously good-looking package/record, the hybrid of folk and indie rock music and the band’s single-minded pursuit of the quietest and most beautiful sounds possible was striking.
The signifiers most often used to describe the band and their music are as follows: soft, honest, and gentle. None of those are inaccurate (although I’ll be damned if I have any idea how one accurately portrays honesty in words, let alone song…but trust me, these songs are nothing if not honest). Lyrically, Matthew Clark and Daniel Hawkins are concerned more with one’s moral compass, living life in a mature and responsible way, loving and creating music, than they are writing mash notes to former girlfriends. Simple yet often poignant, the words are a big part in fostering a desire to continually revisit the album. The vocal performances are so soft and subtle, often slightly lower in the mix, melding with the background harmonies and the instruments so seamlessly they almost cease being words and become just another musical element. You’ll probably need to listen carefully to get the full impact. What’s more, the harmonies and melodies are downright precious, the pair working in tandem to drive home that gentleness that is an overriding part of the songs.
Musically, the level these guys are on as songwriters is mind-bogglingly mature, considering the baby-faces behind them. The arrangements spring forth from acoustic guitar parts that are gently, spryly plucked. Drums are played about as softly as is humanly possible while electric guitars are layered in to flesh out the sound. Other instruments are entered into the fold when needed (including a terrific harmonica run in “Bad Notes”) and when the songs rise and swell towards their endings, as they often do, everything rises together in a unified spirit. There’s a great deal more electric guitar here than the single, but it’s not typical distorted rock guitar. Like everything else, it serves only as another layer, a different kind of gentle sound that overpowers nothing else.
The pace of the songs is also quite striking. Words like meandering, crawling, plodding all have negative connotations to them and don’t really capture the feel you find here. What these performances have is patience, a certain satisfaction in taking time to get where they’re going. Think Death Cab For Cutie’s Stability EP or certain Low albums (though not what most would call “slowcore” I’m sure), that purposeful lag between snare strikes that really brings your focus to the technical ability of the players.
The irony about the album’s languid pace is that the ten tracks and 36 minutes are over before you know it. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself hitting the repeat button a few times over.
Papermoons - Follow The Sun [3:03m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Papermoons - Behind The Frame [3:17m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadTeam Science Records are the unfailingly decent people behind this release, which is currently only available on CD. Aaron Danger is the man behind the team and he’s an exceedingly decent man with exceptionally good taste. ALL of his releases are worth your time, and after his home was significantly damaged by a recent hurricane he could use your support. Purchase CDs and albums via the website, Myspace, or the webstore. Between the three you should be able to pick up everything.
