CD Review: Shearwater - Palo Santo - Page 2

The tonal shifts of Palo Santo require musicians who can be comfortable in both fast and slow modes; fortunately, the personnel in Shearwater are up to whatever tasks given them. Meiburg's voice, as evinced at the opening of the album, is elastic enough to bring out both melancholy and defiance. Furthermore, he and Howard Draper are multi-instrumentalists, so one never knows what will pop up. The violin on "La Dame et la Licorne" shows up on a couple other tracks, notably at the end of "Failed Queen," where its squeaky timbre provides an interesting literalization of the title subject.

Too, the laid-back piano on "Licorne" becomes significantly more violent on the propulsive "Seventy-Four, Seventy-Five." And then there's Thor Harris's percussion. He ranges from subdued timekeeping on "Sing, Little Birdie" to powerful pounding on "Johnny Viola." These back-to-back tracks, with their faded trumpet licks and recessed vocals, suggest a suite from a long-lost spaghetti Western.

The Western parallel is apt, as the mood is a mix of sun-blasted landscapes and frigid starless nights. Palo Santo shows us a place where both the lips and the heart of the wandering troubadour are cracked and bleeding. The world to which Meiburg and Shearwater bring us is a dark and haunted one, but it's also quite lovely. "Turn your transmitters on, we are not coming back," he intones in "Red Sea, Black Sea." The question is, will you want to come back?

Article Author: Steve Carlson

Steve Carlson, the proprietor of The Ongoing Cinematic Education of... since 2002, neither conducts electricity nor talks to reptiles. However, he knows someone who does both.

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