On Friday the 13th of September, a new anomaly emerged in Charleston’s soundscape. The All Widows /// A Lion Out of Place split showcases John Shafer’s twinkling riffs and impassioned vocals as All Widows, while Nate McKinley’s faraway voice sings subtleties behind cloaked chords as A Lion Out Of Place. It’s only 25 minutes long, but it’s more than enough to get lost in. You’ll be reeled in immediately by All Widows’ explosive start, and by the end, you’ll find yourself wandering through A Lion Out Of Place’s sonic wilderness.
All Widows /// Mixed by Cristobal Gato.
A Lion Out of Place /// Mixed by Tyler Beall.
All tracks /// Mastered by Cristobal Gato.
As a Charlestonian, this album art immediately invoked a timeless nostalgia in me. Sunsets over marshland, grandeur, too often taken for granted. A thin veil of fire splitting the sky. Let’s talk about that split.
All Widows
As this hauntingly ferocious work takes off, All Widows kicks off with “Forgive Me for Saying So, And God Bless ‘em” -which blazes onto the scene with a fiery burst of lofi emo rock. Springy mathrock riffs pop up throughout the 5 tracks on All Widows’ side and serve as a sort of catharsis for the intense lyrical content, vocal strain, and noisy effects.
All Widows swerves around glassy rhythms as they bleed out on “Turkish, the Fight Is Half the Battle.” The track spins up in angst as the lines, “Speaking repeating the same fucking words” come round and round.
Screaming and rapid fire riffage hook us into track 3 before we’re left desperate and desolate on “Let the Cold Water Run.” John Shafer sings, “It was always gonna end like this,” as the track crumbles.
Entrancing waves of melancholic melodies ripple through “Albatross” as echoed voices float to the top. The enchanted seaside feeling is brought to life by a veil splashing ambience. It serves as a beautiful interlude before All Widows’ last cut.
That intensity is fired back up as janglepop strings fly haywire on “Homecoming is Cancelled.”
“Something is better than nothing,” resounds through the track in a screaming conclusion to All Widows’ side.
Favorite track: “Albatross”
A Lion Out of Place
Plug your headphones in. Nate McKinley’s contributions to the split compose a foggy soundscape, full of lush acoustic guitar playing and interesting chord voicings reminiscent of Elliott Smith. The vocals throughout bellow beyond the track’s that house them, echoing endlessly.
On “How Much Is Enough”, those ghostly guitars rip at the track like a rushing tide. Nate McKinley’s vocals ring through it all in lofi sounds, as if hearing something from above while you’re stuck swimming below.
“Morning Haze” is a fitting name for the next track, which muffles its lovely vocals in steady strumming before breaking down into ornate picking patterns. It’s easy to get lost in this disorienting dawn
“Somewhere to be Now” illustrates a voyage in its hypnotic melodies that waver back and forth, all the while chords crash like a storm-battered shore. McKinley calls out the track’s namesake in exhaustion.
The album concludes with “Too Late” which fades away in the sounds of silver strings.
Favorite track: “Somewhere to be Now”
thanks for the tape, Nate!
