Winterpills : The Light Divides

<a href="Reviews/Album_Reviews/Winterpills_%3A_The_Light_Divides/"><img src="http://www.qromag.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/winterpills.jpg" alt=" " /></a> On the softer side of rock is fertile style of acoustic pop that Winterpills are thriving on.  On their second album, <i>The Light...
7.4 Signature Sounds
2007 

 On the softer side of rock is fertile style of acoustic pop that Winterpills are thriving on.  On their second album, The Light Divides, they elaborately branch rhythms into a variety of shadowy moods while smoothly balancing weighty vocals with lush melodies.   The silvery interplay between Philip Price’s and Flora Reed’s vocals spread over the highly-evolved, yet organic pop that’s kept slightly below room temperature.   As far as lite-indie goes, The Light Divides is dark and has plenty to be taken seriously.

Building on the pleasured sounds of the self-titled debut, Winterpills live up to their actual name as a remedy for the cold.  They act much like a bowl of warm soup:  not an actual cure, but at least an intermediary to feeling better.  If melancholy is a wintry feeling, they don’t shake that emotion as much as grow calmly in.  Mid-tempo, plucking of “Hide Me” expands into sly, grinning ballads like “Shameful” and “Broken Arm”.  The Light Divides is cleverly relaxing at times thanks to the peaceful “June Eyes” and starry “Eclipse”.

This album is smartly constructed and well-conceived as a floating acoustic pop collection.  The heteroduo of Price and Reed have similar enough styles that they can highlight each other and the music when together, and are still strong apart.  The guitars are remniscient of a downtempo U2 and waxed drums skate nimbly behind them all.  It’s all just enough to give you a hint of spring in the darkest months of the year.

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