This really doesn’t sound like a debut album and it really doesn’t sound self-produced, either. The unhurried beauty of The Wolves is primarily the work of Jaye Kranz, an Australian who spent a lot of time in the States composing the tracks and then, after moving back to her native Oz, worked with bass player Virginia Bott to record the release.
It begins with All The World, which features the growl of too-low Hammond, that Bossa Nova beat you get on old organs complete with the wood stick clicks, tumbling mandolin that sounds like the romantic stuff you’re supposed to have played to you while you sit in a gondola, and sweet fuzzy guitar. All the little accidents are preserved. Kranz’s vocals are simple with a country twang and their precision really complements the nebulous elements of the music.
First single The Woods has a great syncopated chorus which sounds like trekking through trees with its quietly thumping bass drum and the little keyboard licks are kind of like the dreamy stuff which French legends Air produced for The Virgin Suicides soundtrack.
All The Great Lakes features leslie-wobbling chords, chimes and delicately plucked electric guitar and has something distinctly spiritual about it (now would be a good time to reveal that the whole thing was recorded in The Chalk Horse, a converted church in Melbourne’s suburb of Yarraville). Come And Go is the second single and begins with acoustic guitar and Kranz’s voice piercing through the echo in its doubled glory. Satellite does something weird to your brain when its quietly percussive scratching on the neck of a guitar sifts along beside lush keys, and finale Holy Water is as intimate and heart-punchingly great as some of Stina Nordenstam’s best.
Despite all the analogies I’ve just made, The Wolves consistently drops little gems of composition and sound that are quite new. This release is considered, beautifully arranged, expertly played and very exciting for a debut. Look out.
BY ZOË RADAS
Best Track: All The Great Lakes
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: AIR, ANNA TERNHEIM, MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND
In A Word: Sapient
