www.thedawnchorus.com
www.jellymaidmusic.com
The Big Adventure is the debut album from UK indie-folk 5-piece The Dawn Chorus. Their EP (reviewed here earlier this year) showed a band of great talent, so the arrival of this full-length effort was awaited with great anticipation. It is a pleasure to report that the short wait has been well rewarded.
The album opens with the excellent diptych “The Big Adventure”. Part one is essentially a folky, acoustic number, though the sound is enhanced by the use generous use of piano and strings. It also benefits from clever lyrics. Part two is driven by soft “marching” drums and trumpet, which build to an electric guitar-driven but still folksy ending. The suitably laid-back vocals complete a tremendous opening salvo of tracks.
Track 3 “The Hope Will Kill Us” is a (relatively) rockier affair with a slight whiff of “Hammer Horror” organ about it, confirming The Dawn Chorus have something a bit special about their approach and sound.
“Come On Home” follows and it is a jaunty, folk-influenced pop song, the trumpet/brass making it eminently suitable for the current festival season.
Track 5 “I Can Be Anything” has the most 60s pop (the Kinks) sound, while “She’s Like An Angel” has an almost “swing-band” introduction before moving into Weezer-with-brass territory.
“The River Song” introduces a female-male vocal into the mix, with rich, string-laden verses which, build towards an anthemic “if we try” crescendo. This is followed by “Summer of ’99” which being straight-forward guitar-driven indie is the least folk/country sounding song, but it fits right in due to it being thoroughly melodic and hummable.
Track 9 “Fractured City” is a return to the breezy, countrified sound, and again incorporated effective use of trumpet/brass to give the song more layers.
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“Not having Fun” has a rich sound, whose title is a bit of a misnomer in that it sounds like the band jolly well are having fun.
Track 11 “Song For Antoinette” could/should be the “hit” single, due to its tremendous chorus if nothing else. Actually, it is a song of three halves, all of them good!! It starts as jaunty pop, changes to a quieter more reflective song, then ends with an anthemic male/female vocal. There is a certain epic quality to it all.
The final song “Blast From The Past” pushes the idea of a song with different “movements” even further, highlighting just how many ideas the band have. It begins with a sparse, acoustic guitar and strings introduction, moves on to an almost Mariachi-style brass number, then morphs into guitar-driven pop, before another brief Mariachi section finally evolves into drum-heavy indie. It is a fitting ending to a truly beautiful album.
The bands that might have influenced The Dawn Chorus are clear – Bright Eyes, Arcade Fire, Neutral Milk Hotel, and The Kinks among others – but they are far from being copyists. The songs are catchy, accessible and downright likeable. At the same time, they avoid being twee due to the meaningful often clever, occasionally humorous lyrics.
This could very well be my new favourite thing. Buy it.
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