Style: Folk rock; compare to Andrew Bird, Blind Pilot, Great Lake Swimmers
Top Tracks: “Walk the Furrows,” “Brave World,” “Now We Hurry On”
After a “disaster chapter” (so named in a video promoting this album), Phil Moore and Beth Tacular, better known as the Bowerbirds, have produced a memento of their experiences aptly called The Clearing. With lilting phrases, they create soundscapes sometimes stark and percussive, sometimes lush with haunting strings, guitar, and vocal harmonies, and always, unfailingly organic and free. Exploring the duality of darkness and light, the nature of seasons, and the inevitable movement of time, they express an understanding that “I’m dust and you’re dust” in “a world half-broken,” but its inherent beauty is no accident, and is meant to be savored.
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