PALO SANTO

Around the time that Jonathan Meiburg decided to devote all his energies to SHEARWATER and buddy Will Sheff returned to focus his on OKKERVIL RIVER, came this first installment of the Island Trilogy, arguably the peak output of this project, though most of those accolades are more sagely allocated to the subsequent pair.

Comprised in the main of very low energy, at times imperceptible numbers not dissimilar to much of a certain 1971 KING CRIMSON album, "Palo Santo" is not unexpectedly at its best when its pulse rises above 50, though most everything has merit given enough time and attention, the question being when is enough? Comparisons to TALK TALK, mid period FLEETWOOD MAC (where Peter Green, Danny Kirwan and Bon Welch still jam somewhere off planet), WOVEN HAND ("Red Sea Black Sea") DAVID SYLVIAN (in style not vocally) and AISLES (in vocals not style) are all possible.

My picks here are "Red Sea Black Sea", "White Waves", "Seventy Four Seventy Five" and "Johnny Viola", with special kudos to whoever is playing the piano, but as a whole, it's here that Meiburg and company seem to be speaking for themselves more than ever, and with a certain botanical healing quality, just a little bit too quietly to reach some of us.

Social review comments

Review related links

• Send comments to kenethlevine
• Report this review (#3196361)
• Buy SHEARWATER music online with PA partners
• Show all SHEARWATER MP3/Stream
• Go to SHEARWATER page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Palo Santo page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for SHEARWATER related discussions