Saturday 25 April 2015

A Few Words on... Villagers - Darling Arithmetic



The third album for Villagers, Darling Arithmetic was not only on my radar as a potential album of the year. Don’t get me wrong, I was looking forward to it, {Awayland} grew on me far more than my original 7/10 ranking would indicate so I was looking forward to what direction the band would take and bits and pieces in my life made Conor O’Brien’s dark introspection seem oddly comforting.

Unlike the bombastic and anthemic quality of {Awayland}, Darling Arithmetic is far more stripped back and quiet. It’s easily more of a successor of Becoming a Jackal than that album. Most of the tracks are O’Brien, solo on an acoustic guitar with the odd inclusion of soundscapes or backing tracks.

Now O’Brien certainly isn’t the first man to put together a short, sweet, stripped back album from a loud predecessor, hell, Cherry Ghost did exactly the same last year with third album Herd Runners, but Villagers (or rather O'Brien) have nearly perfected it. Opener Courage is a wonderful track setting the tone of the record. From there, it's more short bursts of acoustic goodness with more of 'O'Brien's masterful storytelling.

One of the highlights being Hot Scary Summer, combining a verbal knock at an unfair god which swirls and builds for a wonderful bridge, it's somehow simple and minimalist but equally deep and complex. Whilst there's nothing here that matches the blitzing pace of Ship of Promises or Judgement Call from the older records, the album is made up of more gentle, acoustic tracks which make the record a more intimate and fragile affair and ultimately, one more enjoyable than {Awayland}.

And that's the album on a whole, simple but deep, short and sweet, breathtaking, but familiar. A welcome surprise and one that, if you enjoyed Becoming a Jackal and wanted a more fragile follow-up or enjoy folk done well, Darling Arithmetic is definitely worth a listen.

8/10

H

@Retcon_Nation

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