Well, it’s been a while, eh? Although formed back in 1997, and creators of some wonderful music that’s often stood against prevailing fashions of the time (and is frankly all the better for it), this only the band’s fourth album, and their first in twelve years. This time the alternative country act have been working with the Black Crowes‘ Chris Robinson as their producer, and continuing to produce beautiful work. They were reportedly once described by the Torygraph, pretty accurately (surprisingly) as ‘country through a kaleidoscope.‘
While it’s possible to draw comparisons with other acts who have merged country and rock (and that’s a whole series of other articles), there’s no disputing that the Beachwood Sparks are in a league of their own. The album opens with the delightfully frivolous ‘My Love, My Love‘ which pulls a trick that’s not often used in music: the second half of the track actually slows down. It gives an indication, if you’ve ever wondered (and who hasn’t?) of what Spiritualized and other acts of their ilk might sound like if they went down the Americana route. Certainly, I
While the first few listens to the second track ‘Torn In Two‘ made me think it was a slow starter that should be placed elsewhere on the album, subsequent listens show that it has its place. But the following two tracks, the sad, shimmering jangle of ‘Falling Forever‘ and the wonderful throwback of ‘Gentle Samurai‘ are the album’s highlights, and wonderfully juxtaposed. The rest of the album keeps an impressive trajectory, right along to the closing ‘Wild Swans.’
All in all, Across The River Of Sparks is a short but sweet album. Clocking in at 29 minutes (is that too long to be an EP? A mini-album?) it does manage to grasp the maxim that less is more, and there’s no excess on here needing to be trimmed. Aurally, it provides a glorious injection of colour (particularly welcome if you’re as far north as I am, and are feeling somewhat short-changed by summer thus far). This is a place of peace and joy, a welcome respite from a frantic world. This may not be the best album in their back catalogue, but if you’ve never heard the Beachwood Sparks before, this is as good as any place to start – then make sure you delve into the rest of the back catalogue. Hopefully there won’t be such a long wait until the next album.
