The Sky From The Underground
Windfall, 2024
9/10
Listen to The Sky From The Underground
The Bay Area luminaries New Earth Farmers return with 8 originals and 2 covers, where their unclassifiable craft is as interesting and memorable as anything before it.
“Big Questions” gets the listen off to a rich start, where Nigel Twist’s dense drums and Kevin T. White’s precise bass complement Paul Knowles’ expressive voice, and “In The Sunlight” follows with warm acoustic guitar and swirling electric guitar via the retro-nods and dreaminess.
The middle tracks offer “Have Love Will Travel” and “Behind That Locked Door”. The former is melodic and intimate, where Melissa Phillips DePrato’s lovely harmony vocals won’t go unnoticed, while the latter welcomes Dave Zirbel’s touching pedal steel via a heartfelt climate.
Approaching the end, the rugged “Windfall” thumps and shakes with plenty of rock’n’roll spirit that invites a sing-along, and “He Broke Your Heart” exits with Adam Rossi’s soft B3 via the building landscape that soars with beauty and wonder.
A very meticulous body of work that explores many angles of Americana with nods to The Clash, The Who and The Beatles, every track here is full of substance and creativity.
Travels well with: The Mike Jacoby Electric Trio- Rocket Fuel Logic; David Luning- Lessons