In The Willows – Before Everybody Disappears

Waterford alternative-folk act In The Willows provide a harmonically gorgeous début with Before Everybody Disappears. 

Softly fading into focus ‘Wake Me If I’m Asleep’ opens Before Everybody Disappears and introduces the turbulent soundscape of harmony and melody that forms the backdrop of the entire album.

Populated by In The Willows ability to build powerful dynamic lifts and gentle moments of repose, songs such as ‘Time of Year’ and ‘Sirens’ are woven tapestries that perfectly capture what the band, and indeed the record itself, are all about.

This approach is best seen in the slow build to pounding, jolting crescendo of ‘Rowing Boats’. Taking and augmenting the alternative-folk genre into the defined atmosphere of their music, the group create an L.P. filled with singular creativity. All of which helps to separate In The Willows from many other acts currently working within Ireland’s bustling folk scene.

From the outset of Before Everybody Disappears the full-bodied resonance and textural background of the album is set with ‘Wake Me If I’m Asleep’ and cohesively held until the final notes of ‘It’s Over’.

And in this atmosphere of receding melody and reverberating moments are the central unique characteristics that make In The Willows such an evocative and engrossing band to listen to. The group create a soundscape that weaves itself around each song on the L.P. giving the record a lived-in and honest feel.

Before Everybody Disappears is a deftly crafted album in the truest sense of the term. Dominated by a singular mood, tone and sound the record draws the listener through reflective lyrical passages, up-lifting dynamic jumps and enchanting melody. A very impressive début.

Rating: 9/10

Before Everybody Disappears by In The Willows is out now.