<p>
<a class=”player-start” href=”http://www.mazarinerecords.com/players/hfags/life-inside-the-body/music-player/demo/index.html” rel=”shadowbox;height=565;width=750;” title=”Hope For Agoldensummer: Life Inside The Body”>
</a>Hope For Agoldensummer<em>
<br />Life Inside the Body</em>
<a href=”http://www.mazarinerecords.com/”>
<br />Available now on
Mazarine Records</a> (May 1, 2012)
</p>
<p>At times, the voices in this Athens trio adopt the timbre of instruments
typical of their genre: violins and musical saws. Simple folk harmonies and
plucked guitar strings seem equally suited to float on a breeze through
summer’s open windows or hang in the air of a winter burrow.
</p>
<p>
<em>Life Inside the Body</em>
is founded on slow rhythms and old-fashioned close harmonies. A cappella tracks
like “Cold Cold Bed” and “Come Back” reveal a seemingly effortless intimacy
between the voices of sisters Claire and Page Campbell. Other tracks–“Come On,”
“Day Glo Grey”–add instrumental accompaniment, but keep a pretty straightforward
folk feel. The album is full of nuanced variation. While individual songs slip
into sub-genres, consistent vocals and pacing hold it all together.</p>
<p>
<strong>
</strong>The band is at its catchiest when edging into folk-rock
territory. Tracks like “Daniel Bloom” and “Shining Heart” borrow rock’s
backbeat for added texture. “Daniel Bloom” is the star of the album, with
ghostly, lyricless vocals and an enchanting guitar hook that immediately lure
listeners into the song’s fold. “Shining Heart” is not as immediately catchy,
but after a slow build, listeners are rewarded with an unexpected leap into a
joyous, longing refrain.
</p>
<p>Other songs offer an even greater departure from tried-and-true
folk. The changing rhythms, bit of discord, and vaudeville feel of “Annie,” and
the wispy, high harmonies and playful lyrics of “Come Over” are welcome
experimental departures. These slightly eccentric vignettes seem the band’s richest
terrain for potential growth, especially if they can keep the tone more sultry
than cute. </p>
<p>Hope For Agoldensummer was born of wishes: a reunion of two
sisters, an escape from the cold and dark of winter. Musically and lyrically, the
band seems to represent both the wish-come-true and an understanding that such
wishes cannot last. Claire and Page Campbell may be together, crafting soulful
indie-folk with musician-producer Suny Lyons, but winter will return and these
souls may part ways–if only to reunite later. It is fitting, then, that <em>Life Inside the Body</em> seems a bridge from
sorrow to satisfaction and back again.</p>
<p>
</p>
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