I love well assembled folk music, but too many bros and broettes fuck it up royally. So while Out Like Lambs, the duo of Rachel Ade and Michael Lucio Sternbach, might seem familiar, they’re undeniably refreshing. My experience in New Jersey is limited mainly to Hoboken and Jersey City, which are not necessarily the most picturesque places I’ve seen. But I have to imagine that Out Like Lambs’ home of Ocean Grove is a rather scenic, historically rich, and spiritual millieu in order to birth such gorgeous, fanciful torch ballads and dedications to nature and love. Man, I’m really sounding like a hippie these days…
The group’s wide instrumentation is deeply evocative of The Incredible String Band and their vast arsenal of instrumentation. As a matter of fact, 17 guest musicians helped provide horns, woodwinds, and strings. My favorite track, “Bygones,” brings forth traditional Anglo folk in the vein of Liege & Lief era Fairport Convention. The ornate “Downstream,” with its drastic but constrained mood shifts, should excite any Akron/Family fan looking for something a little less schizophrenic. Their eponymous four-track EP will be available soon, but in the meantime, go see about their nice website adorned with antique photography (which I’m a huge fan of).
For fans of: Charalambides, The Incredible String Band, Akron/Family, Angels of Light
MP3 :::
Out Like Lambs – Bygones
