Candid Coal People’s Love Will is mostly inoffensive, but there is a melancholy behind much of the frolicking.
The opening and titular track bursts out the gate in a flurry of strings after some plaintive a capella. The instrumental arrangements are fertile, with voices joining and leaving fluidly.
Often, the strings will waltz through the phrases, pausing in time for an intense vocal proclamation, such as in “Cicada’s Song”: “I feel it’s God’s responsibility/ To see the innocent through.”
“Neopolitan” sways back and forth like a lullaby. “Ambivalent” is the only song on the record that leaves me wanting. It feels weak, compared to the richness of the rest of the record.
Overall, in sound and spirit, Candid Coal People live up to their name—they even allow for some candid banter at the end of “Lasso.”
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