Review Summary: Nothing new here, but for those looking for a sort of expansion on folk albums such as "For Emma, Forever Ago", this will be a sort of folk haven to dive into.
Despite the regular occurrence of "don't judge a book by its cover" in every day life, there are just some experiences where you can predict the outcome right from the get-go. Take a look at
House With No Home's cover and tell me you don't see the cover of a soft folk album in the vein of Bon Iver (a.k.a. Justin Vernon) and his contemporaries. Hell, the snow-capped cabin that serves as the cover's center of attention might as well have been the cabin Vernon recorded
For Emma, Forever Ago in. So yes, Horse Feathers have crafted a cozily pleasant folk album here. Being of an inherently "stripped-down" genre, the most important question to ask here is: is the album unique?
No, not exactly. As stated before, these kinds of albums can be found in the cabin recordings of Justin Vernon, or the bedroom tapes of Iron & Wine, or even the quickly spreading indie-folk of Great Lake Swimmers. Still, in a way, that's the appeal of the album: it comes from a breed of similar artists who set out to make beautiful and subtly lonely contemporary folk music. And, in that respect, Horse Feathers succeed. Every song here is impeccably precise (yet paradoxically raw) in their execution with almost no discernible flaws (except for the frantically dissonant mid-section of "Albina"), letting Horse Feathers rightfully take their place as a surprisingly consistent folk band, and one to watch out for.
Though, on first listen, many of the songs seem indistinguishable, each song acts as part of the greater whole (though some contribute more than others). Opener "Curs in the Weeds" starts the album off on a very good note, and also one that foreshadows the rest of the album: the song includes the usual soft guitar strums and elegiac strings that support the rest of the instrumentation, just as on the other songs on the album. The aforementioned "Albina" is also a standout, chugging along at an uncharacteristically speedy pace, before almost crumbling in the middle (albeit for less than 10 seconds) and seemingly rebuilding itself. Around "Helen" the album introduces the piano for great results; the instrument is the basis for many of the album's best songs. A great example is "Father Reprise", which expands the repertoire to include various horns and the aforementioned piano. Ambient in execution, the songs shows a sharp turn for Horse Feathers in an exciting new direction.
Underpinning the elegant and woodsy song structures is frontman Justin Ringle's voice, which comes off as the sort of rough and homespun half-mutters typical of the genre. While sounding a bit like many of his indie-folk peers, Ringle delivers his tunes with a rusty delivery, adding to the songs' unpolished yet pastoral effect. His voice seems to be built around rather than from the songs and takes on different emotions from song to song. Occasionally a female singer will join him, their voices nicely complementing each other in harmony.
So, while
House With No Home isn't really anything new, the album is a notably enjoyable collection of soft folk songs that any listener of contemporary indie-folk music should easily warm to. At its best, it invokes images of that same cabin on the cover that any folk greats could have recorded their music in. In other words, you feel you're right there with them, watching them play.
