▄▄ [ INFORMATION ] ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
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█ ARTIST: Bowerbirds █
█ TITLE: The Clearing █
█ LABEL: Dead Oceans █
█ GENRE: Folk █
█ BITRATE: 227kbps avg █
█ PLAYTIME: 0h 46min total █
█ RELEASE DATE: 2012-00-00 █
█ RIP DATE: 2012-03-06 █
█ URL: █
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▄▄ [ TRACKLIST ] ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
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█ 01. Tuck The Darkness In 4:50 █
█ 02. In The Yard 4:07 █
█ 03. Walk The Furrows 3:54 █
█ 04. Stitch The Hem 4:09 █
█ 05. This Year 3:37 █
█ 06. Brave World 4:28 █
█ 07. Hush 4:03 █
█ 08. Overcome With Light 3:09 █
█ 09. Sweet Moment 2:40 █
█ 10. Death Wish 4:16 █
█ 11. Now We Hurry On 6:49 █
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▄▄ [ NOTES ] ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
█ █
█ Societies sometimes sing their best songs for centuries. Consider that █
█ antediluvian American lament "Goodbye, Old Paint," or the worn murder █
█ ballads of the Appalachians, which still send shivers down spines and █
█ inspire new renditions, variations and song cycles. Ancient as they may █
█ be, these tunes still resonate emotionally, echoing some feeling each of █
█ us has likely felt. █
█ █
█ The best songs of North Carolina's Bowerbirds have always seemed equally █
█ eternal. Coruscated by Beth Tacular's bird song and Phil Moore's █
█ environmentalist empathy, "In Our Talons" was, at its core, a quest for █
█ solidarity in a world of closing shadows. "Northern Lights" painted a █
█ pained portrait of love shrouded in doubt as perfectly as Cash, Dylan or █
█ Cohen ever have. These felt like more than songs; they felt like █
█ treasures. █
█ █
█ But those recordings were made on the quick and the cheap, with █
█ nylon-stringed guitars, fiddle lines and drum patterns that became █
█ comfortable. You could imagine these songs as old stateside standards, █
█ because, really, that's how they sounded--campfire anthems sung by a █
█ couple clinging to very deep love. █
█ █
█ The Clearing is the third album by the Bowerbirds, and as is often the █
█ case for bands that have found steady success, they had more time and █
█ better resources to make it. This is a bigger record, then, with bolder █
█ sounds and a broader scope. "Tuck The Darkness In" surges in its final █
█ two minutes with a wall of electric guitars and drums. "Hush" plays hide █
█ and seek with restless vibraphones, pianos and drums, Beth's voice again █
█ providing a core of resilience in an otherwise ominous atmosphere. █
█ █
█ Thing is, these songs don't cede to the increased production demands. █
█ The guitars and strings, codas and bridges simply make these thoughts █
█ more urgent, more vital and more necessary, but not one bit less █
█ permanent. Though "Walk the Furrows" is more complicated than anything █
█ the Bowerbirds have ever recorded, the kernel of the song--a new creed █
█ for retrenched domesticity in a world flooded with temptation and █
█ distraction--feels like bedrock. █
█ █
█ The Clearing is more than a third record for the Bowerbirds. Between █
█ 2009's Upper Air and this one, Beth nearly died after a mysterious █
█ illness that put her in the hospital. They rescued and adopted a dog █
█ that ran beneath their tour van's tires. Beth and Phil even ended their █
█ long relationship but began it again after realizing that, despite their █
█ own shortcomings, they didn't want to be with anyone else. Mostly, █
█ though, they returned to their cabin in the woods of North Carolina to █
█ nest--to make soup and walk dogs, to make art and write songs, to █
█ realize that this was their life and find contentment in it. █
█ █
█ For the Bowerbirds, The Clearing represents the perfect realization of a █
█ fresh, timely outlook. Here, there's acceptance with ambition, patience █
█ with aspirations, understanding with intelligence. On The Clearing, Phil █
█ and Beth sing of the best and most important moments of their life and, █
█ in turn, create new ones. In this blistering world, these songs are the █
█ rarest sort of balm. █
█ █
█ The Clearing was recorded with Brian Joseph in Wisconsin's treasured new █
█ studio, April Base, and with the help of some righteous microphones in a █
█ tiny, battered North Carolina cabin built by freed slaves during █
█ Reconstruction. The Clearing was mixed by Nicolas Vernhes in New York's █
█ Rare Book Room. The Clearing is available on Dead Oceans starting March █
█ 6, 2012--and, subsequently, forever. --Grayson Currin █
█ █
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