Darlingside - Fish Pond Fish

Du genießt seit einigen Tagen das neue Album der Fleet Foxes, kommst aber nicht davon los? Du lehnst die digitale Variante von „Shore“ aus Prinzip ab und wartest sehnsuchtsvoll von den physischen Release im Februar? In beiden Fällen kann dir geholfen werden, entweder mit einer schönen Ersatzdroge oder mit einer wohl klingenden Überbrückungshilfe.

Die Band, die die Herzen der Fleet Foxes / Crosby Stills Nash / Other Lives / Simon & Garfunkel / Bon Iver Fans höher schlagen lassen wird, heißt Darlingside und stammt ebenfalls aus den USA. Dave Senft (Bass, Gesang), Don Mitchell (Gitarre, Banjo, Gesang), Auyon Mukharji (Violine, Mandoline, Gesang) und Harris Paseltiner (Cello, Gitarre, Gesang) haben sich dem Harmoniegesang und opulent arrangiertem Folk verschrieben. Auf Anraten ihres Produzenten Peter Katis (Interpol, The National) behielt das Quartett aus Massachusetts viele ihre intimen Demoversionen als Grundlage für „Fish Pond Fish“ bei und errichte darauf Schicht um Schicht hymnische Barock-Folk-Bauwerke.

„Extralife“ kam vor 2 Jahren bei Platten vor Gericht auf 7,000 Punkte - wie wird „Fish Pond Fish“, auch im direkten Vergleich zur diesjährigen starken Konkurrenz von „Shore“ und „For Their Love“, abschneiden?

 

How much of this is folk, pop or chamber-rock is really rather irrelevant. Above and beyond the comparisons with other groups (as with my examples earlier) it’s only an attempt to put up a signpost that points in their direction. Because Darlingside are unique. They’re a gestalt of four voices and instruments that blend so perfectly it’s impossible (unnecessary) to single out individual contributions. Who is singing when and where is sacrificed for the superiority of the song at that moment. It’s democratic but also selfless.

And the album is a rallying cry to be the same. To dwell, to exist and revel in the moment. But not in a hedonistic way, in an acceptance that your being is a part of something superior. And something worth fighting for. It’s hard to describe the effect of the album. Returning to the earlier analogy, a witness can only hint at the vastness and power of the ocean. To feel it, you’ve got to dive in.

(Folk Radio)

 

This music is rich and dense, ethereally harmonious, and far from simple. Many of these tunes, with their acoustic strumming, plucked banjos, and some effects, seem as if they are being directly transmitted from the heavens above – certainly the sequence that runs from “Time Will Be” to “February Stars” to “Denver” to “Mountain + Sea.” (quite honestly most of the album)

(…) Darlingside has done what few have managed to do, chronicling the emotions of the pandemic metaphorically while urging us to find beauty where we can and to find the patience and resolve to get through this period, knowing that, like everything that has come before, change is inevitable but may not be reflective of the past we remember. 

(Glide Magazine)