| Sea Wolf |
| Song Spells, No. 1: Cedarsmoke |
Sea Wolf — Song Spells, No. 1: Cedarsmoke
•≠• Slova se zdají býti osobními, jako když jsou určeny pro jednu konkrétní osobu, ale můžou mít také zapůjčený význam a užívání metafor nechává posluchači pocit, že jsou sami součástí příběhu. Některé kapely nebo alba dokonce můžou být spojovány s konkrétními obdobími nebo druhy počasí. To je pro každého jiné a tady opravdu není místo, abych z toho dělal vědu, co dělá jeden umělec, považovaný za létního a další za zimní band. Je to všechno o našich vlastních zkušenostech. Album má předpoklady stát se průlomovým. Led by Alex Brown Church.
Location: Los Angeles, California
Album release: July 15th, 2014
Record Label: self-released (500 copies)/Dangerbird Records
Duration: 39:23
Tracks:
01. Intro 2:20
02. Ram's Head 3:35
03. Bergamot Morning 3:29
04. Bavarian Porcelain 3:51
05. Cedarsmoke 3:34
06. Young Bodies 3:29
07. The Water's Wide 4:34
08. Whitewoods 3:41
09. Whatever You Say, Say Nothing 2:18
10. Visions 8:59
Personnel:
•≠• Alex Brown Church — vocals, guitar, bass, keyboard, programming, percussion
•≠• Lisa Fendelander — keyboard, backing vocals
•≠• Joey Ficken — drums, percussion
•≠• Scott Leahy — guitar, bass, ukelele, percussion, backing vocals
•≠• Vanessa Freebairn-Smith — cello
•≠• Matthew Langston — guitar, backing vocals
•≠• Written, Produced and Mixed by Alex Brown Church
•≠• Mastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge NYC, assisted by Rich Morales
Notes:
•≠• SONG SPELLS is a new Sea Wolf project. It is a series of experimental albums, written and recorded during 4 month periods between official Sea Wolf studio albums. The first entry into the Song Spells series, ‘Cedarsmoke’, was created during the last 4 months of 2013.
•≠• This album will not be available in stores. Preview and GET the free or pay-what-you-want, high quality and ONLY OFFICIAL DOWNLOAD.
Credits:
•≠• Written, Produced and Mixed by Alex Brown Church
Performed by:
•≠• ABC — vocals, guitar, bass, keyboard, programming, percussion
•≠• Lisa Fendelander — keyboard, backing vocals
•≠• Joey Ficken — drums, percussion
•≠• Scott Leahy — guitar, percussion, backing vocals
•≠• Vanessa Freebairn-Smith — cello
•≠• Matthew Langston — guitar, backing vocals
•≠• Mastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge, New York, NY
•≠• Drawings and Sculptures by James Sterling Pitt
•≠• Design and Layout by Dusty Summers
•≠• This album was written and recorded at the Sea Wolf Studio in Northeast Los Angeles from September — December 2013.
Management —
All songs written by Alex Brown Church
© 2014 Alex Brown Church Music (ASCAP)
REVIEW
By Alex Skidmore | June 17, 2014 | 3:29pm | Rating: 7.8
•≠• Every artist has a way of evoking certain emotions that comes to be a part of his or her identity. It could be as simple as pulling out Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water when you’re feeling blue or Electric Light Orchestra’s “Mr. Blue Sky” when speeding down the freeway with the windows down.
•≠• Certain bands or albums even come to be associated with specific seasons or types of weather. It’s different for everyone, and this really isn’t the place to get into the science behind what makes one artist a summer band and another a winter band-mostly because there is no science. It’s all about our own experiences. It’s most likely their own doing for including sounds of rain and lyrical images of brown leaves turning soft in the water on their debut album, Leaves In The River.
•≠• Alex Brown Church, the man behind Sea Wolf, has returned to his roots for his new album, Song Spells, No. 1: Cedarsmoke. After three bonafide studio albums, he went to the fans via Kickstarter to fund a stripped-down album in between studio albums. As the project evolved, the idea of an album series was born. This first entry into the Song Spells series will only be available to non-backers on streaming sites, such as Spotify, and through their website (seawolfmusic.com) as a pay-what-you-want digital download (with a limited 500 physical copies available for purchase as well).
•≠• Cedarsmoke makes good on the initial goal as it does call back to the more spacious songs heard on earlier albums. Led mostly by acoustic guitar and Church’s close vocals, the album’s style and tones will be familiar to longtime listeners. The opening instrumental track “Intro” is made up of a shaker, sustained notes from keyboards and cellos and a thunderstorm. It all grows closer to swallow you into the atmosphere that stays throughout the rest of the album.
•≠• ”Ram’s Head” is one of the few almost entirely acoustic tracks. Church fingerpicks a pattern on the guitar before describing a scene in front of a fireplace and whispering the chorus: “Yesterday is over and tomorrow nears, but I just want to stay right here.” Add some haunting “ooh”s, a little percussion and ethereal keyboard sounds that are better left with the sources unknown, and there you have it.
•≠• The title track is a string-led instrumental with more sounds of the world, and it leads into “Young Bodies.” Church’s vocals are clear and effortless as he sings of “the way we used to be,” thoughtful and nostalgic, but not wishful. Church excels at making the words seem personal, as if they’re meant for one person, but also lending the meaning and imagery to let the listeners feel like they are part of the story.
•≠• While the first half of the album includes more upbeat songs, the latter half of the album finds a stronger energy. “Whitewoods” brings back the gypsy-folk vibe that was all over Leaves In The River and has been missing since Sea Wolf’s sophomore album, White Water, White Bloom. “The Water’s Wide” echoes the sentiments of being resistant to change heard elsewhere on the album, but out of a place of confidence rather than fear: “It’s nothing that we haven’t seen before / But this morning it felt like a little more / Like the future is still wide open / And I can choose where I’m going / I don’t want to leave here now / Now that I found my legs somehow.”
•≠• Cedarsmoke doesn’t bring much in way of new direction for Sea Wolf, but that wasn’t the point. It’s clear that Church is confident and at ease here, and perhaps this was just as much for his own creative process as it was for his listeners. Previous album Old World Romance was a big step outside of the box, and I can only imagine that this step toward the center was somewhat intentional. The distinction between future Sea Wolf studio albums and entries into the Song Spells series will only be truly visible once more of each are released, but Cedarsmoke fits nicely on the shelf with the rest. (http://www.pastemagazine.com/)
Also:
By Steve Hochman
:: http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201406271630/d
Website: http://www.seawolfmusic.com/
Bandcamp: http://seawolfmusic.bandcamp.com/album/song-spells-no-1-cedarsmoke
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seawolf
Press: Good Cop PR —
Agent: The Windish Agency —
Discography:
•≠• Get To The River Before It Runs Too Low (EP) (Dangerbird Records, 2007)
•≠• Leaves in the River (Dangerbird, 2007)
•≠• White Water, White Bloom (Dangerbird, 2009)
•≠• Old World Romance (Dangerbird, 2012)
•≠• Song Spells, No. 1: Cedarsmoke (self-released, 2014)
_______________________________________________________________
| Sea Wolf |
| Song Spells, No. 1: Cedarsmoke |
•≠• Slova se zdají býti osobními, jako když jsou určeny pro jednu konkrétní osobu, ale můžou mít také zapůjčený význam a užívání metafor nechává posluchači pocit, že jsou sami součástí příběhu. Některé kapely nebo alba dokonce můžou být spojovány s konkrétními obdobími nebo druhy počasí. To je pro každého jiné a tady opravdu není místo, abych z toho dělal vědu, co dělá jeden umělec, považovaný za létního a další za zimní band. Je to všechno o našich vlastních zkušenostech. Album má předpoklady stát se průlomovým. Led by Alex Brown Church.
Location: Los Angeles, California
Album release: July 15th, 2014
Record Label: self-released (500 copies)/Dangerbird Records
Duration: 39:23
Tracks:
01. Intro 2:20
02. Ram's Head 3:35
03. Bergamot Morning 3:29
04. Bavarian Porcelain 3:51
05. Cedarsmoke 3:34
06. Young Bodies 3:29
07. The Water's Wide 4:34
08. Whitewoods 3:41
09. Whatever You Say, Say Nothing 2:18
10. Visions 8:59
Personnel:
•≠• Alex Brown Church — vocals, guitar, bass, keyboard, programming, percussion
•≠• Lisa Fendelander — keyboard, backing vocals
•≠• Joey Ficken — drums, percussion
•≠• Scott Leahy — guitar, bass, ukelele, percussion, backing vocals
•≠• Vanessa Freebairn-Smith — cello
•≠• Matthew Langston — guitar, backing vocals
•≠• Written, Produced and Mixed by Alex Brown Church
•≠• Mastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge NYC, assisted by Rich Morales
Notes:
•≠• SONG SPELLS is a new Sea Wolf project. It is a series of experimental albums, written and recorded during 4 month periods between official Sea Wolf studio albums. The first entry into the Song Spells series, ‘Cedarsmoke’, was created during the last 4 months of 2013.
•≠• This album will not be available in stores. Preview and GET the free or pay-what-you-want, high quality and ONLY OFFICIAL DOWNLOAD.
Credits:
•≠• Written, Produced and Mixed by Alex Brown Church
Performed by:
•≠• ABC — vocals, guitar, bass, keyboard, programming, percussion
•≠• Lisa Fendelander — keyboard, backing vocals
•≠• Joey Ficken — drums, percussion
•≠• Scott Leahy — guitar, percussion, backing vocals
•≠• Vanessa Freebairn-Smith — cello
•≠• Matthew Langston — guitar, backing vocals
•≠• Mastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge, New York, NY
•≠• Drawings and Sculptures by James Sterling Pitt
•≠• Design and Layout by Dusty Summers
•≠• This album was written and recorded at the Sea Wolf Studio in Northeast Los Angeles from September — December 2013.
Management —
All songs written by Alex Brown Church
© 2014 Alex Brown Church Music (ASCAP)
REVIEW
By Alex Skidmore | June 17, 2014 | 3:29pm | Rating: 7.8
•≠• Every artist has a way of evoking certain emotions that comes to be a part of his or her identity. It could be as simple as pulling out Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water when you’re feeling blue or Electric Light Orchestra’s “Mr. Blue Sky” when speeding down the freeway with the windows down.
•≠• Certain bands or albums even come to be associated with specific seasons or types of weather. It’s different for everyone, and this really isn’t the place to get into the science behind what makes one artist a summer band and another a winter band-mostly because there is no science. It’s all about our own experiences. It’s most likely their own doing for including sounds of rain and lyrical images of brown leaves turning soft in the water on their debut album, Leaves In The River.
•≠• Alex Brown Church, the man behind Sea Wolf, has returned to his roots for his new album, Song Spells, No. 1: Cedarsmoke. After three bonafide studio albums, he went to the fans via Kickstarter to fund a stripped-down album in between studio albums. As the project evolved, the idea of an album series was born. This first entry into the Song Spells series will only be available to non-backers on streaming sites, such as Spotify, and through their website (seawolfmusic.com) as a pay-what-you-want digital download (with a limited 500 physical copies available for purchase as well).
•≠• Cedarsmoke makes good on the initial goal as it does call back to the more spacious songs heard on earlier albums. Led mostly by acoustic guitar and Church’s close vocals, the album’s style and tones will be familiar to longtime listeners. The opening instrumental track “Intro” is made up of a shaker, sustained notes from keyboards and cellos and a thunderstorm. It all grows closer to swallow you into the atmosphere that stays throughout the rest of the album.
•≠• ”Ram’s Head” is one of the few almost entirely acoustic tracks. Church fingerpicks a pattern on the guitar before describing a scene in front of a fireplace and whispering the chorus: “Yesterday is over and tomorrow nears, but I just want to stay right here.” Add some haunting “ooh”s, a little percussion and ethereal keyboard sounds that are better left with the sources unknown, and there you have it.
•≠• The title track is a string-led instrumental with more sounds of the world, and it leads into “Young Bodies.” Church’s vocals are clear and effortless as he sings of “the way we used to be,” thoughtful and nostalgic, but not wishful. Church excels at making the words seem personal, as if they’re meant for one person, but also lending the meaning and imagery to let the listeners feel like they are part of the story.
•≠• While the first half of the album includes more upbeat songs, the latter half of the album finds a stronger energy. “Whitewoods” brings back the gypsy-folk vibe that was all over Leaves In The River and has been missing since Sea Wolf’s sophomore album, White Water, White Bloom. “The Water’s Wide” echoes the sentiments of being resistant to change heard elsewhere on the album, but out of a place of confidence rather than fear: “It’s nothing that we haven’t seen before / But this morning it felt like a little more / Like the future is still wide open / And I can choose where I’m going / I don’t want to leave here now / Now that I found my legs somehow.”
•≠• Cedarsmoke doesn’t bring much in way of new direction for Sea Wolf, but that wasn’t the point. It’s clear that Church is confident and at ease here, and perhaps this was just as much for his own creative process as it was for his listeners. Previous album Old World Romance was a big step outside of the box, and I can only imagine that this step toward the center was somewhat intentional. The distinction between future Sea Wolf studio albums and entries into the Song Spells series will only be truly visible once more of each are released, but Cedarsmoke fits nicely on the shelf with the rest. (http://www.pastemagazine.com/)
Also:
By Steve Hochman
:: http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201406271630/d
Website: http://www.seawolfmusic.com/
Bandcamp: http://seawolfmusic.bandcamp.com/album/song-spells-no-1-cedarsmoke
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seawolf
Press: Good Cop PR —
Agent: The Windish Agency —
Discography:
•≠• Get To The River Before It Runs Too Low (EP) (Dangerbird Records, 2007)
•≠• Leaves in the River (Dangerbird, 2007)
•≠• White Water, White Bloom (Dangerbird, 2009)
•≠• Old World Romance (Dangerbird, 2012)
•≠• Song Spells, No. 1: Cedarsmoke (self-released, 2014)
_______________________________________________________________