Family Band: Grace & Lies (No Quarter, 7/24/12)
“Night Song”
Grace & Lies, the second album from husband-and-wife team Family Band, paints a picture of small-scale yearning and despair that shuttles between being hypnotic and unexpectedly hard-edged. Described as a study in light and shadow by the artists, the album mixes aural beauty with a sense of mystery and menace.
Though not a huge departure from the duo’s self-released debut, Miller Path, this sophomore effort strikes its own moody yet expansive tone. Smooth alto vocals float over fuzzed-out guitars (and the occasional dulcimer), and as the album progresses, this newer sound of dark, atmospheric rock mixes with Family Band’s folksy roots. With the undercurrent of smoky-voiced sadness, it’s an experience that will leave you melancholy and wanting more.
I like this very much, dark melancholic dreamy with juxtaposed moonlight behind a film of trailing cloud. Captures in mood the sound of the French band Enchanted Woods. The vocal-instrumental mix make the lyrics accessible while voice maintains an etherial haunting quality. thoughtful, lovely, dissonant, cool to the touch.