{"id":16209,"date":"2019-03-09T05:30:20","date_gmt":"2019-03-09T10:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=16209"},"modified":"2019-03-07T08:38:24","modified_gmt":"2019-03-07T13:38:24","slug":"album-review-the-appalucians-bright-hills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2019\/03\/09\/album-review-the-appalucians-bright-hills\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: The Appalucians — Bright Hills"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Bright Hills<\/i>, the debut album from Asheville-based folk quartet the Appalucians, reveals a charming and close-knit vibe within seconds of its opening track. Two of the group members \u2013 bassist\/harpist Aditi Sethi and guitarist Angie Heimann \u2013 engage in a dual-lead harmony vocal on \u201cBloom in the Seed.\u201d The two allow their vocal lines to wrap around each other, always remaining within the confines of harmony yet bounding around effortlessly within that context to create a sound that\u2019s somehow both precise and relaxed.<\/p>\n

\u201cBloom in the Seed\u201d effectively sets the tone for the album. All but one of the 14 original compositions on Bright Hills<\/i> were written either by Heimann or her husband, guitarist Jay Brown. Sethi\u2019s husband, guitarist Cas Sochacki, rounds out the quartet. The instrumentation on the songs generally stays within the folk and Americana idioms: acoustic and resophonic guitars, harmonica and so forth. But the group\u2019s classic pop songwriting influences filter through to the choice of instruments, too: electric piano and electric bass guitar are used judiciously within the songs.<\/p>\n

But as fine and note-perfect as the playing is throughout Bright Hills<\/i>, it\u2019s the vocal blend that is most likely to win the hearts and minds of listeners. Heimann and Sethi\u2019s voices seem custom-made to work as a team. There\u2019s a playful tone in songs like \u201c47 Main\u201d that\u2019s irresistibly appealing.<\/p>\n

The two female singer-musicians don\u2019t hog the spotlight, though; Jay Brown steps forward for the lead vocal on his own \u201cChampagne Annie,\u201d a breezy, catchy story-song in the tradition of the best country-rock hybrids from acts like Flying Burrito Brothers and Poco. The dueling lead guitar lines are effective, too making \u201cChampagne Annie\u201d sound like a hit single.<\/p>\n

With the subtle and buttery tones of a Fender Rhodes piano, The two-step vibe of \u201cBreakin\u2019 Even and Breakin\u2019\u201d sounds like a nod to the country of 1970s AM radio. Heimann\u2019s contemplative \u201cFarmtown Waltz\u201d is a melancholy piece brightened by the songwriter\u2019s crystalline, edge-of-heartbreak vocal delivery. \u201cSmokin\u2019 Ashes\u201d is another heaping helping of classic country; its melodic line may be familiar to the point of predictability, but the song\u2019s homespun charms and sincere delivery outweigh the shopworn nature of the melody.<\/p>\n

Brown\u2019s \u201cAdibelle\u201d is \u2013 one suspects \u2013 a love song to his partner. It\u2019s also a showcase for more lovely harmony singing, this time of the male\/female variety. Sethi initially takes the solo lead vocal on \u201cRhythm in the Wind,\u201d a tune with a relatively unconventional (in this context) melody; it has a distinctly Eastern feel, underscored by the tabla work of guest artist Avi Chopra.<\/p>\n

Heimann\u2019s punningly titled \u201cHailbop\u201d is a softly sung, plaintive mountain melody. A love song referencing one of the brightest comets to pass near Earth, it\u2019s followed by \u201cKetchikan,\u201d a tune with a picked guitar melody reminiscent of Arlo Gurthrie\u2019s style (and wordplay that recalls Guthrie\u2019s approach as well).<\/p>\n

Cas Sochacki sings baritone lead on his songwriting contribution to the record. Stylistically, \u201cDon\u2019t Bother Me\u201d is an outlier on Bright Hills<\/i>, but it\u2019s fun nonetheless. What it has in common with the disc\u2019s other songs is its displaying of the sheer enjoyment the musicians have in making music together. \u201cOne Man Woman\u201d is an original, but it\u2019s such an effective capturing of the easygoing pop-country aesthetic that it feels like a cover of a classic.<\/p>\n

The a cappella harmonies that introduce \u201cSweet Later On\u201d preview a more serious and thoughtful side of the Appalucians. The song balances the lighthearted moments nicely, rounding out a warm and inviting collection of songs. Bright Hills<\/i> is a strong debut, one that effectively showcases the strengths of the quartet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bright Hills, the debut album from Asheville-based folk quartet the Appalucians, reveals a charming and close-knit vibe within seconds of its opening track. Two of the group members \u2013 bassist\/harpist […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16210,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,49,65],"tags":[3737,237],"class_list":["post-16209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-americana","category-new-release","category-review","tag-appalucians","tag-asheville","cat-6-id","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16209"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16211,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16209\/revisions\/16211"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}