Staff Reviews

Shearwater - Animal Joy

Review by Andrzej Lukowski

Like nature itself, Shearwater simply continue, serenely untouched by vagaries of fashion. »

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sub pop are exceedingly proud to present shearwater's 'animal joy', the label's first album by the band and their eighth overall. led by jonathan meiburg, and featuring drummer thor harris, and bassist kimberly burke, shearwater has been a favourite at sub pop hq for many years. why? fellow shearwater fan gerard cosloy puts it nicely: "it's been suggested - by fans, detractors, even by the band's founder - that shearwater and whatever we call underground / indie / whatever-rock in this part of the century are not an obvious fit. and that's true. so much of what we hear these days (the lousy stuff, anyway) is willfully insular; jonathan meiburg's songs, by contrast, have constantly tackled bigger questions and been propelled by massive musical ambitions. we're in an era in which minimalism and lower-than-low-tech have come in vogue. by contrast, shearwater's recordings - the epic 'island arc' trilogy of palo santo, rook and the golden archipelago in particular - have been expansive in a fashion like none of their contemporaries. on 'animal joy', meiburg has opted to ditch an approach that paid huge artistic dividends over his last three matador albums for a record that seems shockingly direct, immediate and intensely personal. he's no stranger to lush, crafted recordings, but this one sounds like no prior shearwater incarnation. someone's bound to label this shearwater's transitional album, but to these ears, it sounds like a thrilling artistic rebirth. just give 'em the fucking grammy already!"
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