Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago

When you quit a band as successful as Okkervil River to focus full-time on your side project (Shearwater), you better have a plan in mind. Luckily for Johnathan Meiburg, Shearwater only helps to showcase his natural talent better than Okkervil River did with him constantly playing second fiddle to frontman Will Sheff. On Shearwater's newest album, The Golden Archipelago, Meiburg's inspirational falsetto is the true backbone of each track (as it often is with every song he writes), but this time around, Meiburg's use of discordent keyboards and soaring instrumentation also shines just as brightly. My one complaint about previous Shearwater releases was how the slower songs tended to bore me a bit. Not so on The Golden Archipelago, where the stirring, slow-burning tracks ("Castaways") are just as engaging as the more up-tempo ones ("Corridors"). Overall, The Golden Archipelago is another brilliant release from Meiburg and one that makes you realize just why he decided to quit Okkervil River to work on Shearwater full-time.

DOWNLOAD: Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago [Matador]
Recommended Tracks: "Black Eyes," "Corridors," "Runners Of The Sun," "Uniforms."