Black Swan Lane: Staring Down The Path Of Sound
Black Swan Lane's newest album, and their fourth release, "Staring Down the Path of Sound" brings an excellently crafted spectrum of ideas and emotions. Well thought out and meticulously recorded, Lauren Fay joins regular members Jack Sobel and John Kolbeck with producer Jeff Tomei again lending his talents. Strong cross-atlantic influences give this album a pronounced Manchester feel, but never so much that it their sound would be subject to typecasting.
Emotions are at the forefront of the songwriting with very personal and reflective themes, and the musicianship enables the messages - whether slow and down or powerful and positive. Few groups can cover so many feelings and tempos while staying relevant to the core idea of what the overall band identity should be.
BSL delivers a tight, focused musical front and the unity of the members is self-evident in every song. There's a harmony in their group vision and the members share a similar level of skill and experience... that being a lot. This band knows what it wants to achieve and they're capable of doing it - and doing it very well.
Black Swan Lane has produced an original, contemporary album with a updated take on the Manchester sound. Familiar, but never imitating, BSL builds on the strengths and maturity of it's members and takes their music to its own unique personal space. Defying categorization, it sounds both classic and new at the same time and exposes more and more with repeated listenings.
This album is layered, rich and complex both in concept and execution and is similar to The Dowry's "Circus and the Sea" in that the personal feelings exposed will mirror the listeners state of mind and change and grow over time. There is much to explore in "Staring Down the Path of Sound" and it will surely be as fresh and poignant tomorrow as today. Highly recommended.
BSL will be touring the country in November with
Chameleonsvox from the UK. For dates and more
band info visit blackswanlane.com
