Local Natives – Sunlit Youth

Local Natives widen their sound....
Local Natives : Sunlit Youth
7.8 Lorna Vista
2016 

Local Natives : Sunlit Youth

More

Local Natives burst out of Los Angeles’ trendy Silver Lake in 2009 with the alt-folk collective loss of Gorilla Manor, and somehow managed to up that game on 2013 follow-up Hummingbird (QRO review). For Sunlit Youth, there was no way that they could repeat either feat, so instead the group has widened their musical style, including synths & soul.

Yes, like seemingly every other act out there, alt- or not, Local Natives employ synthesizers, but they do not dominate the record or the sound, just coming up sometimes, such as “Mother Emanuel” and “Psycho Lover”; “Dark Days”, featuring The Cardigans’ Nina Persson, is just some very effective smooth intimacy/smooth epic. Meanwhile, there is also Sunlit soul, like “Coins” and “Ellie Alice”. Oh, and the band hasn’t forgotten their indie origins, with pieces such as single “Past Lives”.

Local Natives have grown with their past two albums, but in different ways. Hummingbird took what they did well and did it better. Sunlit Youth, though a bit all over the place, takes what they’ve done and adds more.

Categories
Album Reviews
Album of the Week