This band are Greenlines on their website and Green Lines on the album sleeve. Not being able to decide on the correct name doesn't bode well for the future of this acoustic collective based in Pembrokeshire.
Perhaps their minds are on higher things and the dreamy poetic nature of the nine tracks confirms this to be the case.
"I wish to live like animals in simple sin" is the curious declaration on the opening track, Animals. Perhaps I'm splitting hairs here but I would argue that sinfulness is not something which should be ascribed to non-humans. Maybe it is best just put such musings down to poetic license. After all, there is little doubt band leader Tim Williams is a lyricist whose imaginative flights of fancy take him far from the tittle-tattle of daily life.
This can be illustrated by quoting the opening stanza of Ghost:
"O this affliction, my misery / Is that you are you a flourishing lily/ And I the dying bloodied matador / My mask amelt, my mask no more".
When was the last time you heard the word "amelt" in a pop song?
The album title comes from a lyric to Bridge of Sorrows ("my feet fall lightly on the turf as I step"); a song also recorded by Williams' previous band The Crook Family.
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Despite their Welsh origins, I would say the influences here derive more from stateside roots music than Celtic folk.
Snakes (another Crook Family tune) made me think of REM's Radio Song and We Were Children is very similar to Fleet Foxes more recent take on Americana .
Listening back to tracks by William's former band shows how the more basic sound has evolved into something much more polished. The gentle backing vocals and fine violin arrangements (played by Ruth Nic an Eanaigh) give the band a warmer, more flowing quality.
The words, like the melodies and harmonies, are tailored for those of a romantic disposition who habitually look for lyrical beauty in nature.
It's all a bit too precious, though nice enough if you are in the mood to float away with your head in the clouds.
Greenlines' Website
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