What makes a good folk album? In the '60s, it was about the lyrics. They're what made people care about Dylan, Baez, and the rest. The contrast of powerful lyrics with simple music created a popular dynamic, and what made it easy for people to care so deeply about such simple songs.
These days, without any particular need for unifying lyrics, folk music's relevance has diminished, and become more of an art form with an ever-increasing delicacy. The Finches represent this new folk with stripped-down melodies that are more of an aesthetic appreciation of simplicity than decades ago.
On their first full-length, Human Like A House, The Finches design their sound around just two guitars and two voices. Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs wistfully croons over Aaron Morgan's slow plucking, creating a quiet atmosphere of a house in the woods. Riggs has a calm, melodic voice that easily carries each tune, and Morgan's harmonies add good emphasis, but there's really nothing overly compelling about the tracks. The drums and "Auld Lang Syne"-esque sing-a-long on "The House Under The Hill" and slide guitar in "O LA" give the album a little more character, but overall, the album focuses solely on Riggs' voice.
For a modern folk album, Human Like A House at least achieves a certain level of aesthetics through sweet vocals and a starry acoustic sound. It's not so much what they achieve as what musical traps they avoid. Simple songs with simple production will always have value in America, thanks to the '60s.
