Shearwater: Rook
Label: Matador
This is the second Shearwater album on which Jonathan Meiburg has written all the songs, and his songwriting and arranging have gained in clarity and focus. The chamber music arrangements here, which occasionally blossom into anthemic crescendos, include at various times brass, glockenspiel, strings, and clarinet; quiet moments suggest a hybrid of Astral Weeks and Rachel’s, while Meiburg’s falsetto is frequently compared to Tim Buckley’s and son Jeff Buckley’s. That said, this is an emotionally rich, profoundly beautiful, mostly contemplative but occasionally rousing record that sounds quite distinctive. (Steve)
