MP3: Isobel & November - She came down the mountain
Isobel & November sent me an mp3 from their new album "The ghostwater gospel" and I'm happy to pass it along, not just because they're a good band, but because the track confounds my expectations. Judging by the demo stuff they had been posting I had expected a competent 16 Horsepower/Woven Hand knockoff which is fine because they never seemed to bite them too hard and frankly, those are bands we could use more copies of (though I'd say they broke the mold when they made David Eugene Edwards). Anyhow, like I said, modest expectations -- definitely not expecting a cavernous 15-minute epic. How big was the church they recorded in anyway? The video above doesn't really give us a good view of the complete space, but I expected a tiny Swedish farmhouse church. Y'know, like "Winter Light" sized. Moderate and Lutheran, not Catholic and booming. And the comparison acts I listed above, they are merely starting point; Isobel & November definitely veer off into their own thing on this one. That base is vital though, this would be nothing without that glory and grandeur, those two star qualities that can sometimes make rock music seem transcendent. Now I know I gotta hear the rest of the record.
Isobel & November - She came down the mountain