Cherryfalls-Winter/Winter
I tell ya, I've heard some hippy crap in my time. Bare in mind I go to Glastonbury every year and have a mad aunt called Lucinda who lives in a cave in Devon, but even I was shocked when reading the press release for these guys. "Sweet talking witches, religious cults and the mysterious call of the 'woowash', its all in a nights work for 'Cherryfalls'", I can tell you dear reader, was the intro to this little anthology of supposedly enticing words. So, you can imagine by absolutely elated surprise to discover I could throw that scrap of paper in the bin and actually listen to this album in a state of indelible bliss.
This is amazing. It's just so good. 'Winter/Winter' supplies us with a collection of 12 beautifully soft (but not soggy) rock tunes. I just do not have a bad word to say about it. I mean what can I say? The melodies are too beautiful? The vocalist's voice is just too advanced with its tonal perfection and general faultless qualities to be subjected to the world?
Don't be so absurd. Everybody needs to hear this album.
To explain the superiority of 'Winter/Winter', even when vocalist Joe McAdam sings on 'Standing Watching': "I want to fuck you up", it still sounds appealing and non-offensive, but still, and I must stress this, not soggy.
See, all you rockers out there, you actually can do anger in a song without screaming inexplicably into your weak and startled microphones!
I cannot pick a favourite song on this album; everyone is a winner. "In Your Arms Again" is a heart-wrenching tale of remorse, set off perfectly with the gently plucked guitars and gradually rising vocal brilliance. I just couldn't stop singing this song long after the record had stopped turning, and as I have always said, there is no better sign of musical brilliance than that, and that portrayal is the same all throughout every one of these songs. On 'Bound to lose', its hook is just as soaring in its heights of quality, people, every song is. I have so much faith in these guys as to say that I do believe that "Mirror Smile" will be the come-back single Chris Martin will wish that he wrote. Similarly, 'My Drug' is an absolute instant classic and a must be single. The lyrics are just so sublime that I challenge any girl worth their emotional grain in salt not to wish that she were the subject of his gently sung, emotion melting words.
This album is capable of sending every band out there into a shameful submission, this is the kind of record which with its absolute first-rate quality sounds so advanced that it would not be out of place as a 3rd album. Just thinking about it blows your mind, I mean god only knows how absolutely timeless their actual third album will be, (don't worry, they will have one). This band are far more superior than all their counterparts put together, and they deserve, (and I cannot imagine them not getting), instant success.