I’ve been a fan of The Album Leaf ever since I first touched the needle down to my copy of In A Safe Place. The delicate, swirling nature of his music sets a mood and helps create a beautiful backdrop to whatever it is you’re doing at the time. Unfortunately, I’ve not found any of his subsequent records (one LP and two EPs) to be nearly so affecting as In A Safe Place was—that is, until I hit play and began listening to “Perro,” the first track off of TAL’s latest album, A Chorus of Storytellers.
Through this song, the album eases its way past your speakers, into your ears, and envelops your brain with an almost hypnotic force. The echoing voices in the background of the track, and the soft melody of the music, makes it like an out-of-body experience—only you can still feel the chills you’re getting from its beauty. “Perro” is followed, in both ambience and track number, by “Blank Pages.” Its electronic drums and more established guitar lines lead you deeper into a truly gorgeous record.
The only real weakness in this—and all TAL records, if you ask me—is Jimmy LaValle’s tendency to infuse a few vocal-driven tracks into each album. His strength lies in his instrumental sensibilities, and songs like “There is a Wind” and “Falling From the Sun” just seem to fall flat by comparison to the others. But it’s all worth it when you get back to tracks like “Summer Fog” and album-closer “Tied Knots.” It’s here the instruments are allowed to speak for themselves. And on A Chorus of Storytellers, they speak loud and clear. |