Album Review : Wildbirds And Peacedrums - Rivers
- Written by Andrew Seaton
If you take a little look at the bio of Wildbirds and Peacedrums on Spotify you will see that they are described as ‘almost unclassifiable’. Rather than being a cop-out of an attempt to compartmentalize, perhaps this is a fair description. If we were forced, I guess we would say blues as an over-arching style. Nonetheless, Wildbirds and Peacedrums’ latest, Rivers, is a compilation of two previously vinyl-only EPs - Retina and Iris - and both could conceivably come from different bands. This becomes all the more impressive when one remembers that this band is in fact a duo. Swedish vocalist Mariam Wallentin and drummer Andreas Weliin each have their own variable styles and these come together in an interesting number of combinations in Rivers and result in an enjoyable collection.
The first EP, Retina, is heavy on the bluesy choral sound with echoing male and female vocals. This is shown on the opening track, ‘Bleed Like There Was No Other Flood’, where the chorus is a crescendo of this form of layered vocals. This is mirrored in other tracks on Retina such as ‘Tiny Holes In This World’, where Wallentin’s pauses are filled with climbing voices that could suitably be found in a choir. This all serves to make Retina a serene experience. The EP saunters along and Weliin’s percussion gives it an edge that compliments it well. Drum loops in tracks such as ‘Tiny Holes in This World’ are executed well but Wallentin is comfortable enough in her own right to go it alone in the minimalist and vocal-only ‘Under Land and Over Sea’ to great effect.
Iris is a record that brings the Northern European pairing close to Lykke Li in places, a figure they toured with back in 2008. Compared to Retina the sound here is a lot more upbeat. Weliin’s percussion shifts to a more rhythmic style and he utilises lighter steel drums for occasional melodies. You could dance to tracks such as ‘The Drop’ and though Iris does not quite have the body-moving sound of the likes of ‘I’m Good, I’m Gone’ by Lykke Li, similarities can be found with some of her more intimate moments on her 2008 album Youth Novels. Unlike Youth Novels however, Iris never seems to grab you; the EP lacks the overall punchiness that you would want it to have. The tracks feel a little similar to each other and one feels that Weliin could have teased out more melodies without sacrificing their usual more subtle sound.
Despite this, Rivers comprises a listenable collection of two different EPs that, though perhaps not demonstrating the band at its best or most groundbreaking, does display both Wallentin and Werliin’s individual strengths as talented and malleable vocalists and percussionists well.