Odyssey
Sony, 2017
10/10
The youngsters from Traverse City, Michigan, The Accidentals, have been making a larger impression with each subsequent release, and here this 2017 album solidifies them as one of the best in the area of modern indie-folk.
The title track starts the listen with warm acoustic strumming, as expressive vocals enter the folk friendly climate where harmonies and pop melodies aren’t in short supply, and “Memorial Day” follows with all 3 members on vocals as bowed and plucked strings bring an orchestral slant to the busy display of beauty.
There’s 13 tracks present and the vast skill of the trio keep us interested throughout, with the vocally strong “Earthbound”, where drumming makes a firm presence, while “Nightlife” recruits a calmer, more bare approach that builds into an emotive and poetic landscape. “Cut Me Down”, one of the album’s best, then finds a playful place to reside with a memorable rhythm alongside sturdy riffs.
Near the end, “Stitches And Seams” flows with a breezy quality where the trio sound wiser than their years amid the cautious climate, and “Ballad Tendered Gun” exits the listen with help from Kaki King on a very cultured and diverse instrumental.
Sav Buist, Katie Larson and Michael Dause, i.e. The Accidentals, bring much originality and incredible songwriting into their craft. So much so, that it’s very likely they’re going to be spoken in same sentence as The Decemberists, Blind Pilot and Mumford & Sons. Yes, they are that good.
Travels well with: Anna Tivel- The Question; Jesca Hoop- The House That Jack Built