It's 2004, and we've fallen in love with acoustic guitars all over again! From the clawhammer inspired folk songs of Iron & Wine to the ramshackle orchestras of Mirah, the confessionals of Sufjan Stevens to the postmodern ballads of the "freak-folk" balladeers like Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsom, the sounds of wandering minstrels are filling our stereo speakers with rainy-day melancholy and old timey lore. But be forewarned: If you're planning on releasing your very own acoustic guitar album (and well you should, young plucker) you'd better be ready for comparisons to just about anybody who's whispered sad melodies over fingerpicked minor chords in the last 40 years. Gravenhurst's Nick Talbot has discovered this the hard way since releasing Flashlight Seasons on his own Silent Age label in 2003; he's since been likened by reviewers to Belle & Sebastian, Neil Young, Nick Drake, Jeff Buckley, Simon & Garfunkel, and Elliott Smith, to name a few.
Now maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me that not even God himself, armed with an acoustic guitar, could write a song that simultaneously juggles all of these artists' varied styles. Yet a hushed tone and pastoral feel can seemingly overwhelm all other musical influences in the ears of some listeners, leading to cries of "folk!" from all directions. In truth, Gravenhurst's songs are as indebted to Britpop as any songwriting tradition, as shades of The Smiths are evident throughout Talbot's midtempo, gracefully arranged works. Regardless of press angle, Warp Records' reissue of Flashlight Seasons should end up finding a wide audience; it's a dark pop record that continuously revels in its own ennui, and will be blasting through many a pair of snow-covered headphones in the winter to come.
Most of the artists to which Gravenhurst has been compared are revered as much for their brilliant songwriting as their performance styles-- they've created songs that can transcend individual interpretation. Talbot, though he's put together a dense and appealing album, is no craftsman of such a caliber. Relative to the musical company into which he's been thrust, his vocal melodies are insubstantial and lyrics pretty but vague. Flashlight Seasons' songs are actually driven more their specific atmospherics and production, each bathed in a haze of carefully constructed ambiance and accompaniment.
Flashlight Seasons is a bedroom album, a recording approach that Talbot prefers to the frustration of expensive studio work. The home-recorded nature here is apparent, not because of anything lacking in the production-- in fact, the high quality of recording and mastering that Talbot attained are admirable-- but because of the obvious amount of care put into the arrangement of each track. He's managed an intimate and unpretentious sound, and taken the time to get it exactly right.
Nick Talbot has named the shoegazers among his primary influences, and the reverb-drenched guitars and low drones of the genre are apparent in the background of almost every Flashlight Seasons song. "I Turn My Face to the Forest Floor" is an unabashedly dark and dramatic number with a chilling chorus. The bleak, industrial landscapes channeled through the music of the post-rockers are evoked by the instrumental interlude "East of the City". One of the album's strongest tracks, opener "Tunnels", features Talbot's icy harmonies over a funeral-march inspired drum and organ. As a whole, the album makes for a moody journey of consistent beauty. Unfortunately, the fact that Gravenhurst's atmospherics are not employed at the service of truly gripping songs means that, though Flashlight Seasons never hits a wrong note, its impact is made in muted shades rather than the sharp tones of direct emotion.
