Labels: Tiny Engines
Review by: MH
I’d kind of forgotten how much I liked Wild Pink’s first album when this one came in – too much other stuff keeping me preoccupied and forgetting to listen to music. If I hadn’t moved to the other side of the world I’d have gone to see them with Ratboys on their recent UK tour but alas. This new one is perhaps a little more polished than the first record and shows more restraint and a calmness throughout. The opening track “Burger Hill” is superb – almost cinematic in its lyrics and the images it evokes. Right through this album Wild Pink have perfected the art of wistfulness and the vocals and lyrics often feel like they’re holding something back (see “Lake Erie” early on in the record for starters). The sound is cleaner than before – there are lovely fingerpicked guitar lines running through many of the tracks and I feel like I could talk about every song on here (particularly the first half) as it’s been on constant repeat since it came in last week. “Jewels Drossed in the Runoff” is majestic and soaring but the whole thing is stellar.