Reviews:: Oweihops Viburnum

I’m oddly conflicted today. It’s my last day at a job that treated me well, but one I’m quite ready to leave for a better opportunity. Amongst the slog of loose ends, superficial farewells and genuine goodbyes is a realization that the last three and half years have shown life change for me in ways that I could have never expected.

Marriage. Kids. Our first home. Promotions. Getting older. Slowing down. These might not seem like the most romantic or exciting changes to undergo and more often than not they are lumped in with the daily grind instead of being actual rewards, but for me these simple assumptions anyone a generation ago would have weren’t really ones I had ever planned on and never thought I would have.

It’s with all these thoughts floating around my head that the simple beauty of As Much Home As We Have thumps right in the chest. The new record from Michael Metivier and his band – Oweihops – is one I’ve kept shuffling to the bottom of the list simply because he lives south of the 49th parallel. I have no idea why I bother trying to make fixed rules for content on a site that is more or les a time-sink hobby, but even those flimsy, insignificant rules are made to be broken I guess.

Oweihops first caught my ear with a killer EP, Cinquefoil (review here). Michael has always been a compelling story teller, but it was the way he balanced his melancholic tales with surprisingly nimble and infectious alt. country riffs that made the EP crackle. The energy has changed on his new record, Viburnum, and most of the songs move with a slower stride, but an assuredness that comes only through experience. Metivier leaves his words open-ended, hoping you relate to the thoughts and emotions he presents instead of trying to push you along the same path.

“Did you fall in love with everyone you'd meet? Well that sounds just like me.”

With one simple admission, instantly you feel Michael is the same as you are. Instead of clever word play, he saddles up beside you at the pub and starts by listening. With the help of Rebekah’s ominous cello and Aric’s atmospheric and mood setting percussion (the cymbal washes on the These Passerines really shows the charisma the singer has), the 10-songs help you sink into a conversation but never try to dominate it.

That’s not to say all the smiles are hidden underneath gloom and heartache. When the banjo and warm acoustics of Finest Kind dance around your speakers, you shake free of any baggage you might have held for the first half of the record. The simple 3-minutes refreshes the listen, like a well placed joke amongst the sadness. Viburnum isn’t as immediate as Cinquefoil, but in the end it’s a much more rewarding listen. Songs reveal themselves slowly, and let you run with your own thoughts. They are reflective, not suggestive and sometimes that is exactly what you need from a record.

MP3:: Oweihops - As Much Home As We Have

MP3:: Oweihops - Finest Kind
MYSPACE:: http://www.myspace.com/oweihops

Labels: Music, Oweihops, Reviews