Ah, the allure of the album cover, in this case, a place where high art meets Edward Lear’s whimsical poetry, it is often the first thing that catches the eye. But once I delved into the music, the richness of the experience continued to unfold. Let’s talk about the titles first, shall we? They wander through the modern cultural landscape at will, meandering through Guernica, past the Mona Lisa, stopping to admire Carl Sagan, and even hinting at a possible nod to Kazuo Ishiguro. Or perhaps that’s just my overactive imagination searching for hidden meanings.
The album itself is a thing of beauty, crafted from gentle folk-infused acoustics that are delicately cocooned and embellished, lifting them out of traditional realms and placing them closer to a more contemporary pop-rock sphere.
Dave Dvorak (another passing reference point that my mind is perhaps making more of than it should) and J.J. Benson are both astute musicians and skilled songwriters in their own right. However, when they come together, as they do in Wondercurrent, the result transcends mere collaboration, creating something majestic and marvellous that is more than the sum of its parts.
