Album title:
12 Tales From Winter City
Artist:
The Young Republic
Label:
End of the Road
Up until the halfway point, the reference to winter in this LP's title seems highly irrelevant. Strangely, the first five tracks saunter along with the air of a breezy late summer evening, all regret and unrequited love as the sun sets. However, track six, She's Not Waiting Here This Time, changes all that: a beautiful string-soaked ballad with a wonderfully Christmassy choir and warm, fuzzy brass, it sends shivers up the spine in more ways than one. It conjures echoes of Elbow's muted magic, and this proves to be the turning point of the whole album. Before, there was rural charm and a quaint innocence, but then all the stops are pulled out and something inspired emerges. She Comes And Goes is a jangly gem, and When I See Your Eyes could melt the hardest of hearts. A mixed bag, then, but one worth delving into: this is the perfect soundtrack to the impending spring. [Heather Crumley]