One minute you’re a young thing with the world at your feet, cycling from Washington state to San Diego in California, playing indie-folk-rock gigs along the way. The next your father lies dying of cancer and your relationship of 13 years has gone pear-shaped.
That is the difference between the bright-eyed 3 Rounds and A Sound (2008) and We Are the Tide (2011) compared with the anguished intense interiority of this album. Life gets messy and we struggle to make sense of it all. Israel Nebeker, singer/songwriter of this Portland-based six-piece, works his way through the tears to find a resolution of sorts with the concluding title track, inspired by something his father said.
But the previous nine tracks, including the excellent Umpqua Rushing, Don't Doubt and Seeing Is Believing, are more questioning, though Nebeker's warm indie folk-pop sheen makes light of the anxieties.
