Mixing folk delicacy with country moves and Americana vibes, not to mention poetic lyricism and gorgeously intertwined harmonies, the debut album from Canadian West Coasters, Peach & Quiet is a class act. There is a gentleness to the music, space is just as integral and instrumental as the strings and beats, and it is around this stillness that the songs are built. The process feels akin to building sonic bubbles, where the colours of the surface shimmer and dazzle but they are really only shells around the space and atmospherics which make the whole thing float in the most delicate of ways.
California Way brings an understated vintage country style bang up to date without losing any of its nostalgic charm, Shoreline After a Storm is suitably emotive and gently brooding with a touch of Fleetwood Mac’s more bluesy, pre-superstardom years and There’s A Very Good Chance is a masterclass in boy-girl harmonies.
Just Beyond The Shine is an album designed to be listened to, really listened to to be fully appreciated. Not only does it have a relaxing feel to it, it is only when truly absorbing the music that you realise that, although it is an album of minimal sonic lines and underplayed beauty, every lyric, every note, every beat is exactly where it needs to be and exactly what is required. And no more. There are plenty of artists, even within the roots music world, who could learn a thing or two from Peach & Quiet about musical restraint and self-editing.
[…] album is anything to go by, it’s no wonder a great many reviewers raved about their debut, Just Beyond The Shine (namely ‘sublime,’ ‘superb’ and ‘a basket of […]