(Bella Union)This is the sound of lost summers,dangling one foot in the waters where Midlake and Iron & Wine absorb spent time, another in the depths of Nick Drake and Bert Jansch, or where folk guitar figures circle like whirlpools. Stratton is a 30-year-old Californian-born,New Jersey native with a fable to summon myths: son of a travelling preacher and a cancer survivor, his music was found by Bella Union boss Simon Raymonde during a night-time online search. These 10 songs feel fittingly, and consistently fragile and fawn-like,even when their lyrics bare teeth. This Is What We Do recalls Stratton’s time ill, with lines that snap out (you’re caught with your neck being fit for a noose”). Ribbons warns of circling crows” and “fire finally [engulfing] the rafters”. The mood throughout is of beauty rather than bite, and slowly waking up to the world.
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Source: theguardian.com