Whilst the likes of Pitchfork and Stereogum have been hailing these guys for years, it’s taken us here at Creature a little bit longer to catch on but good-golly have we discovered a treat! A review copy of Canadian folksters’ The Rural Alberta Advantage’s sophomore album Departing landed in our inbox and we’ve had it on loop ever since.
With stand out tracks like ‘Two Lovers’, ‘North Star’,’ Stamp’ and the energetic rip-up ‘Barnes’ Yard’ the album is jam-packed with emotionally wrought folk-pop treats that are guided by an imposingly wintry Canadian landscape. Lead vocalist Nils Edenloff’s voice is the craggy centre-point of the three-piece, hailing from northern alberta’s Fort McMurry- an isolated settlement in Alberta’s green forests on the northern fringes of Canadian society. Now based in Toronto, Edenloff and bandmates Amy Cole- keyboards, backing-vocals/tambourine- and Paul Banwatt – drums/percussion- sing songs born out of an engagement with Canada’s national landscape and cultural identity.
Video for “Stamp”
It’s a bit of a shame this album wasn’t released around the New Years, as it’s a rather bleak and decidedly wintry album, full of lyrical images of ice, snow and chilled emotions. Now we’re moving into spring there’s a chance the album won’t get the full airing it deserves as it is so sobering, but if you’re still feeling a little cold in the toes , no doubt you’ll be impressed by the arrangements and layering of harmonies on ‘Muscle Relaxant’. And with the nights still closing in dark, ‘North Star’ will warm your heart with its deliciously infectious melody- we’ve been humming it all week and it’s warding off the night-time blues.
Only 33 minutes long, it’s disappointingly short, but criticism is strictly saved for the length of the record. The calibre of song-writing is top-notch, and Edenloff, Cole and Banwatt come very close to surpassing their stunning debut album with Departing.
Powered by Edenloff’s grated and unpolished vocals, tracks such as ‘Two Lovers’ negotiate the seasonal changes of the heart; relationships for the backbone theme of the album, played out in a frozen arena that thaws and snows through a lackadaisical arrangement of keys and guitar licks. The perspective is refreshingly and unapologetically masculine; consuming love and infatuation are coupled with exhaustion and wearing-through, Edenloff wails “I never know when I’m holding you too tightly”. You might feel that through his voice alone Edenloff could turn his lover to dust.
The Rural Alberta Advantage is an important band to watch out for in the coming year, and are gracing UK shores with their presence with a summer tour in May.
SOUNDS LIKE: Neutral Milk Hotel, Billy Corgan, Bob Dylan, The Fray, Conner Oberst
BEST TRACKs: Stand-out track include ‘North Star’, ‘Two Lovers’ and single ‘Stamp’
LISTEN TO IF: you’re feeling philosophical
FIND OUT MORE: http://theraa.com
