Sea Wolf - Get To The River Before It Runs Too Low

Dangerbird Records

The vocal curls ever upwards like wisps of campfire smoke, all smouldering sentiment and emotional heat, the listener finding themselves huddling ever closer, drawn inexorably towards the heart warming sound of Sea Wolf. ‘Get To The River Before It Runs Too Low’ is a five track EP which overwhelms by beautiful increments, a snatch of captivating melody, a mesmerising guitar motif, pleasing turn of phrase or recognition stirring observation. Opener, ‘You’re A Wolf’ aches with all the gut wrenching pain of the lovelorn, “the one that you are looking for / you’re not gonna find her,” is the refrain, cello adding a further sorrowful frisson to the alt-rock ruminations.

‘The Garden That You Planted’ is even more plaintive, time the culprit here, our narrator lamenting what’s been lost and yet remaining defiantly hopeful. It is strangely uplifting. As is ‘I Made A Resolution’, Alex Brown Church imbuing each and every word with a depth of feeling others would struggle to convey in an entire career. ‘Ses Monuments’ picks up the pace, guitar skidding like a car on a rain slicked surface, backing vocals adding an earthy echo and strings again providing that soulful lustre.

The closing ‘I Don’t Know If I’ll Be Back This Time’ finds our man projecting himself into an imagined future, befuddled by the possibilities beckoning him forward and unsure whether life will ever be the same again. Woozy, dreamlike keys accompany his bittersweet musings, a tide of feeling that it seems impossible to swim against. And why would you? Francis Jones

Issue #52 - Very Bro-some

Featuring Panama Kings, ASIWYFA, an investigation into DIY touring, details of what over 25 of the finest NI bands are up to in 2009 and much more.