...Za sve ljubitelje snega i benda Delgados...Twin Falls – AKA Luke Stidson and his slowly revolving door of musical accomplices – is not yet a familiar name. But his first album Slow/Numb is a genuinely impressive statement of intent: in an understated and beautifully produced debut, there are signs that suggest his under-the-radar profile won’t stay that way for long.
The majority of the album is pitched somewhere between wistful, woozy alt-country and the broken, string-laden electronic laments of Grandaddy – although it is bookended by two fizzing, swooning, and quietly epic laments that wouldn’t sound out of place on an M83 album. The production is big and heavily instrumented, providing a deep river of melody for Stidson’s lyrics, which manage to sound simultaneously cynical and full of hope.
On the instantly hummable lead single Janie I will Only Let You Down, sweeping strings shimmy in between twinkling glockenspiels, creating a twee but undeniably beautiful song which deserves the radio play it has received from Steve Lamaq and Tom Robinson on 6 Music. If they could only see us now they’d swear we were ghosts is propelled gently along by chiming slide guitar before building to a Sparklehorse-esq crescendo – one of the album’s strongest moments. Neil Young’s moribund lullabies are not far away from the soft waltz of Every step we take in the snow. Album closer Alameda Sleepwalking is another standout track – a stumbling beat underpinning a wide-eyed, sweeping hook, and a sprinkling of 80s naivety.
The songs stand up on their own, but the real strength of the album is the meticulous, shimmering production. This transforms moments that might otherwise be more mundane into integral parts of the overall sound of the album. Its a striking debut: expect to hear a lot more about Twin Falls in the months ahead.
Twin Falls - 'Janie I Will Only Let You Down' Official Promo from Twin Falls on Vimeo.
Twin Falls - Tour Diary Jul-Sep 2011 from Twin Falls on Vimeo.
