Descendant is the third album from the Scottish-indie supergroup, Snowgoose. The core duo of Anna Sheard and Jim McCulloch return, and they’ve invited a few pals along.
The beauty, and perhaps the point, of a side project is to free you from the pressures of your regular gig. In the case of Snowgoose, this feels less like a sonic exploration and more like a state of mind.
‘Descendant’ moves at a languorous pace for the most part, dipping toes gently into a few different musical pools: smoky, ’60s Nashville country, orchestral pop, ’70s Laurel Canyon folk-rock. There are no dramatic departures – and you could even be fooled by the opener ‘Better Listen’ that contributor Raymond McGinley is going to ride roughshod over the whole thing and give it that TFC crystalline guitar sheen – but the subtle deviations and sense of fun are what make the album both endearing and enjoyable.
‘The Fall’ hues closest to the psych-folk the band are best known for. Sheard’s vocals have an arch feeling, reminiscent of Fairport Convention or the earnest folkies of the late ’60s, but there’s also a genuine guitar solo and the introduction of the “la-da-di” vocalisations that’ll dot the rest of the album.
‘Down The Line’ has lightly pulsing keys courtesy of Belle & Sebastian’s Chris Geddes, and even a little background brass. The languid feel is matched by Salix, despite its sharper guitar tone. ‘Good Medicine’ has a more specific throwback nature with its ringing organ effect, but it’s perfectly executed, and when Sheard inserts a slight warble to her voice the feint towards torchy drama feels right.
Lyrically, the concerns are similarly classic: love, the impermanence of said love, the wistful ephemerality of life itself. ‘Bewildered Dance’ speaks to the feeling of being stuck in love, the characters are “trapped in cement” and “entangled” but powerless to make a change. ‘Call For Peace’ achieves the high-minded potential of its title through the sort of orchestral pop a young Scott Walker might have made his own, the austere drums elevating the intensity with cymbal rides that could be a timpani. Somewhat bizarrely, the song between these two, ‘Fugue State’, also lives up to its title by consisting of nothing but “ooooooooo” and “la-la-la” over a forgettable arrangement. But what the hell, it’s pleasant enough. The title track sums it up all – a morbid fixation on death and the most upbeat chorus on the album.
‘Descendant’ doesn’t take itself too seriously despite the occasionally heavy subject matter. In doing so, Sheard and McCulloch have succeeded in making an excellent album unburdened by expectations that nevertheless manages to exceed them.
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