After three ramblingly diverse records, Andrew Sisk’s Share settle down somewhat on their latest, Slumping In Your Murals. The New Brunswick, Canada native and his band made much of the new record in the backwoods of Prince Edward Island, but the alt-sounds nicely don’t stay stuck in alt-country/folk, but instead carry on their own two feet, right from the opener, “Date and Time”. Still definitely a sad record, Slumping utilizes both the ‘alt’ and the ‘country’ for a memorable piece, from start-to-finish.
There is still some variety on the new album, from stripped pieces like “Lights Overhead” and “Getting Older” near the end to the atmospheric effects on “Awake At Dawn” in the middle. While some tracks aren’t quite ambitious enough, especially for a fourth record, there are also numbers like “Penmanship” and “Fish Out of Water”. The former really works its alt-sad into a gripping ode, while the latter interestingly is slightly ominous & slightly somber, without going overboard.
Canada’s state support for indie music, through the Factor program, hasn’t just featherbedded the artists in Toronto & Montreal. It has also allowed alternative music scenes to develop in places like the Atlantic Provinces, cut off from the rest of Anglophone Canada & out of cod to fish. Three cheers for Canada’s socialist Share-ing!
MP3 Stream: "Fish Out of Water"
– Tom Balfour
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