Laish - Obituaries
Following up guest spots with Grizzly Bear and The Leisure Society and acclaim for their first album, Laish turn to the topic of life and death in second release; Obituaries. Recorded entirely in singer and guitarist Daniel Greens home and on a plethora of musical instruments by Emma Gatrill on clarinet and accordion, Martha Rose on Violin, Dan Harding on Drums and bassist Patrick Lawrence. Every chord, every harmony and every instrument was recorded especially for this album which is a testament to the musical skill of a group that has seen many line up changes in the past few years but that has now settled on a strong line up.
Life, death and infidelity are fairly heavy going topics at the best of times, yet this grit-folk-pop group approach the subjects with harmonies and easy-going guitar rifts that take the heavy topic and add Leisure Society style softness. Title track Obituaries is a great example of the combination of soft, angelic harmonies and haunting guitar riffs and indie-folk vocals to the act of reading about someone's death summarised in a single paragraph. Discipline by contrast is layered in sadness, from its heart wrenched vocals and lyrics; "You say a word too many times; Sorry. It looses its meaning" to its ethereal and ghostly soundtrack and Clarinet solos. Humour is important to cope in any sadness and Warm The Wind which will be available as a free download, is a heartfelt declaration and love letter of desperation it is equally desperate and humorous.
The album plays very well from start to finish and its quality shows throughout. Obituaries will no doubt follow the same path of their first release and receive warm praise across the board. In April Laish toured extensively with their new material, across the UK and no doubt, those to attended left entertained.