A collection of grass roots-informed compositions that casts classic songwriting in a variety of settings, while its themes mix past, present, perfect and broken. On the opening “Stranger Still” a dancing electronic heartbeat leads a love parade. Indie jangle trades with a funky chicken scratch. Fresh paint on a wall of sound. “From Now On” sketches the last days of Summer. Friends and lovers against a backdrop of flowered horizons. “Current Carry” has drum machines popping amidst pedal steel guitar. The icy chimes of “Confiding” accompany an Aleister Crowley quote. Love is the law. Fools rush in while a wise man is left to wonder, knowing that dream and memory are ultimately the same. “Loose Ends” borrows sunshine from the twelve-string stylings of R.E.M.`s Peter Buck for a tambourine-shaking Power Pop song, sung for Edies and lost causes. Hearts handcuffed to the wheel. “Shadows Lane” and “Time Flies” both float on gentle Jazz chords and bed-sit beatnik bongos, before a “Last Hurrah”. Loneliness transformed in stoic reflection, melancholy swapped for gratitude, that which was lost recognized for the blessing it was. Realizing that everything moves with the weather, the seasons, the grace of the tides.
“Complete Strangers” is the 6th album by Vetiver, the band`s first with the Easy Sound label, with artwork and design by Nathaniel Russell. Released tomorrow, you can order directly here.
