New Release: Arborea 'Wayfaring Summer'
My life has just changed forever. Why? Because I can't be certain that I will hear a better album than Arborea's 'Wayfaring Summer' in all my days. The band, consisting of the supreme talents of Shanti and Buck Curran, have released the best new record I've heard in years. In short, the band's debut, 'Wayfaring Summer', is a masterpiece. Imagine Pentangle at the peak of their powers, melting into the dustbowl ballads of Woody Guthrie. Sound good? You're not even close. Arborea have created a modern classic.
The whole LP is an epic journey through love, nature and voice. It's nigh on impossible to pick a stand out track off this wonderful long player. The fact that this is a debut LP makes it all the more astonishing. A track like 'Rivers and Rapids', which is a psychedelic folk treasure see Shanti's voice tripping out through a bewitching, beguiling music that is as cultured and delicate as anything you have ever heard. Far from being a gentle affair, the album veers from doe-eyed beauty to siren-like sexiness. 'Alligator' is, without question, one of the sexiest grooves you will ever hear in your life. Shanti purrs and sways down by the water and there is no doubt that by the close of the track, you will have a crush to topple all your teenage fantasies. Buck, Shanti's partner in crime, only guides the sassiness further into sex with a purring instrumentation.
It's difficult to talk about this album without becoming too flowery. However, this is the kind of LP that has you reaching for, and running out of, superlatives. One track that has this writer flailing on his back in complete submission is the staggering 'Dance, Sing, Fight'. The couple both sing in beautiful harmony and with each note, your heart actually breaks in two. 'Shagg Pond Revival' is another breathtaking song that sounds as if it belongs on the Island Pink label in the late sixties alongside Nick Drake, Fairport and John and Beverley Martyn. To hold the band up in such a (pink) light would normally be unfair, but this is an LP that can easily take the strain of such weighty competition. This is unquestionably one of the finest folk albums that I've ever heard. The whole LP is a wonderful journey through rural folk that will enchant you on first listen, and then, it will refuse to let you go. It's astonishing that, with a recent folk boom that Arborea aren't being sainted right now. They have created a perfect and timeless record that will bewitch those fortunate enough to hear it.
Great news is that Arborea will be touring the UK and Europe in October. There should be no doubt in your mind that you're going to buy this album, so click here and spend the best $12 of your life. If you don't buy it now, you'll only be paying £200 for it in 10 years time. A perfect and staggering record.
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