ALBUM: Whitney 'Light Upon The Lake'

Rating:

In a year struggling to produce too many memorable moments from the guitar camp, Chicago band Whitney have delivered an impressive and immersive debut record. Flying somewhere close to the radar for most of 2016 and with their two singles well supported by the media in the UK, this has been an anticipated album that has not failed to deliver.

Whitney is the brainchild of Julien Ehrlich and Max Kakacek but features a very cohesive band of well versed musicians with a raft of experience under their collective belts. These contrasting backgrounds never clash on this wonderfully produced ten track affair, but melt into a series of breezy arrangements that compliment lead singer Ehrlich’s falsetto vocal.

Not as morose as Elliott Smith nor as awkward as Sufjan Stevens, this is a charming and captivating set of lyrics from songwriters who, given time and exposure, could soon be mentioned in the same breath as their contemporaries. The opening track, ‘No Woman’, sets the tone of the album which refers to the freedom of travel and a love lost and reminisced over. The track itself builds with wonderfully layered textures and endless added percussion that is cleverly arranged.

In fact it’s the lush musical escapism within the album, which contains so much in its 31 minutes, that overwhelms the listener to down tools, jump in the car and put the top down. The lyrical matter maybe centred on broken relationships as apparent in the ever so summery ‘Golden Days’, but the effortless guitar and thumby baselines make it impossible not to feel untroubled.

‘Dave’s Song’ and ‘No Matter Where We Go’ continue the confident Americana, while ‘Red Moon’ gives the band an opportunity to briefly showcase their formidable talent with an instrumental piece that impresses in its arrangement as much as its technical playing ability.

And then it’s over. Short in time but long in the memory. But hey, give me a well sculpted release like this over any of the ill conceived, hurried debuts that occur when a band has to try too hard to get a record out. Whitney have woken up 2016 with a really exciting record – if they can supplement this with a well received round of festivals this summer it could deservedly be a big year for them.

‘Light Upon The Lake’ is out now via Secretly Canadian.