In 10 years I'll still play this CD
author: Kier
Hate to have to make the reference, but here it is... Think Neil Young fronting Sigur Ros. Ethereal? Not really, but stratospheric at least. Grandiose? yes, but also human. Ambient? sort of, but also stirring. Worth your time and dime? definitely. A CD with a strong sense of what it wants to be.
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An introverted and moving winter soundtrack
author: Pre Rec
An ideal soundtrack to a winter drive across icy flatlands, where the warmth of the music, like the snug heat in a car, stands in stark contrast to the barren context in which it travels.
This album restrains itself as long as it possibly can. It seems, however, that The Potomac Accord are at times invigorated by the delicacy of their sound, rearing themselves into sweeping, elegant passages of melancholy defined by their moving progressions and bare romanticism.
The use of the tidal drum flourishes further contributes to the sense of an individual in the wilderness. The vocals too, though close and soft almost throughout, do lift themselves periodically into colder heights and a vocal ambience reminiscent of Canada's A Silver Mount Zion.
At certain points, the piano emerges from within the song to lead gorgeous crescendos, as used in penultimate number Ghost of Kalamazoo. It is at these moments that the record pulls itself onto another level and is capable of capturing the attention of any warm-blooded creatures in a room.
Closing piece, Newly Fallen Century, sounds like the camera pulling out at the end of the movie of all your lost loves and heralds the close of a genuinely captivating record.
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