It's often mentioned that singer/songwriter David Wingo has written original music for several David Gordon Green films, as though Wingo's own work as Ola Podrida were absolutely linked to-- and perhaps inscrutable without-- tacit scenes of dreamy rural poetry. But with the release of Ghosts Go Blind, an abruptly extroverted and thoroughly satisfying third album, the Green connection need be mentioned only to dispense with it. While Wingo's songs have an emotional and musical clarity that hint at his filmic background, Ola Podrida has really come into its own. Rather than recording with friends on the fly, Wingo booked into a studio with a resourceful band (guitarist Colin Swietek, bassist Matt Clark, and drummer David Hobizal) that handles lustrous pop Americana and classically proportioned indie rock with expressive professionalism. It keeps Wingo's gifts as a songwriter and lyricist right at the forefront, which are more than ample to maintain interest.
Ghosts Go Blind is simply a great-sounding album. On the surprisingly danceable indie rock numbers like "Not Ready to Stop" and "Staying In", the understated and crisply shifting rhythm section drives clear, heart-stirring electric guitar melodies, continuously varying the weight and temperature of the song. (Wingo worked with another Texas-based band, Explosions in the Sky, on the Prince Avalanche score, and a bit of their starry conflagration may have rubbed off.) If the up-tempo songs are notably sheer and propulsive, the laidback ones are equally deep and lush: Check out the electric guitar etching soft gold cursive on the ridged acoustic canvas of "Fumbling for the Light" and the sumptuously wide, ascending sway of "Washing Away". There's no electronic apparatus or laden pedal boards to hide guitars and drums executing scrupulous designs, which gives the album a great clarity.
The side effect of this quirk-free lucidity is that Wingo's songs can sound quite “in the style of,” with the redeeming factor being that he always nails it. "Blind to the Blues", for instance, immediately calls to mind the Clientele with the elegant slump of its silvery guitars and brushed percussion. The title track, with a sweetly drifting vocal melody darkened by resonator guitar, sounds like a flatteringly rusticated Coldplay. The fleet post-punk of "Speed of Light" is a dead-ringer for Antics-era Interpol, down to the necrotic nasal quality Wingo lets into his voice. And a strong resemblance to the underrated band Maritime-- the post-Promise Ring project of Davey von Bohlen-- is palpable whenever a matured emo-punk chug steals through the record's changing tones.
Ghosts Go Blind thrives on the vigorous execution of generic gestures, but finds its own personality in Wingo's appealing singing and smart, consistent lyrics. His voice has a plain finish but is strong and on pitch-- he can switch from a steely near-snarl to a high, vulnerable lament with ease. He's very adroit at decorating his melodies without muddying their memorable twists, an infectious example can be found between the verses and choruses of "Not Ready to Stop". "I've been spending all my money like a fool tonight and I'm not quite ready to stop," Wingo sings, then contradicts himself as the arrangement shifts up a gear. This kind of tightly compressed conflict between emotions characterizes the lyrics overall, which portray a distinctly adult perspective on heartbreak-- desperate but self-aware, wary of melodrama-- with nuanced, but broadly resonant images that artfully couch distinctly relatable emotions. The record distinguishes Wingo not only as a noteworthy musical voice, but as a storyteller in his own right, rather than just a colorist for the stories of others.
