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Reviews

Wooden Arms — Tide
(Butterfly Collectors BFLY-01, 2014, CD)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2015-02-05

Tide Cover art Wooden Arms is a British six-piece + guests featuring guitar, piano, violin, cello, bass guitar, drums and trumpet, with all members contributing vocals. The six songs presented here are superbly written and arranged, with a sound that tends to be at times introspective and pensive, but full of beautiful harmonies, somehow capturing a bit of the old 4AD / Projekt sound that quietly slipped away in the early nineties, but eschewing the shoegazer label in favor of something more positive and vibrant. The strings and voices (three female, four male) add a richness that fully orchestrates the material, taking it into new spirited dimensions that defy easy categorization or comparison. De-facto band leader Alex Carson (piano, guitar, vocals) is responsible for most of the writing, which tends toward song based, piano driven pieces of standard length. The album flows nicely and radiates a warmth that calls the listener back for many repeat listens. I guess my only problem with it is that it’s only six songs for a total of about 28 minutes, I’m just getting into it when the music suddenly stops. Granted, it’s quality, not quantity that matters, and this disc is far better than many I’ve heard that are three times its length. Hopefully Wooden Arms will be back soon with a full length release.

Filed under: New releases, 2014 releases

Related artist(s): Wooden Arms

 

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