Albi & The Wolves - Album Review: Light After The Dark
Light After The Dark with its baker’s dozen of tunes is an infectious album that will uplift your soul.
Award-winning indie folk stars Albi & the Wolves have created something of a wandering marching band for their third studio album which has made its way onto vinyl – one tick off their hopefully ambitious bucket list!
Released on the 13th of October, this album isn’t afraid to change its direction from song to song, and if it threatens to get lost anywhere along the way, the overarching theme of hope ties it all together and carries the listener with it.
Chris Dent (the proud albino front man Albi), Pascal Roggen and Micheal Young have added horns, strings and drums to their acoustic guitar, electric violin, double bass, and voices for this album which results in a much bigger sound overall. It feels so close to having the band playing just for you in your living room – which is amazing, these guys are incredible live!
Right from the catchy first track Next to Me, Light After The Dark takes you on a journey through traditional folk sounds to murkier Americana waters and back again.
Heart on Fire repeats the refrain "it ain’t plain sailing, it ain’t half bad" which feels like a dig at this year - either way it sticks with me.
Pitter Patter is a slow and sweet reflective tune, followed straight up with upbeat earworm tune A Little Time.
Hope feels like a grown up offering to Alanis Morissette’s Ironic, and the repeated chorus has my mind creating alternative lyrics as the song progresses that linger with me for the day.
My Old Friend is my personal favourite on this record – I love the change of pace and vocals and poignant lyric.
Light After The Dark is a great tune and is well suited as the title track to this wonderful album, and Things Don’t Always Go to Plan is a beautiful way to end things.
TeMatera Smith from AAA Records apparently encouraged the band to experiment during the recording process, which they clearly took to heart. Bouncing between Micheal Young’s home studio and RedRoom studio the band racked up months of recording time, including one month entirely dedicated to Pascal Roggen’s strings alone.
Beautiful and discordant strings that carry the album to great heights.
“We wanted to make something eclectic, distinctive, and we wanted to surprise people with this album. Just like our live shows, we want people to feel joy with us and have those deep moments to reflect on things.”
Mission accomplished!
Albi & the Wolves have just wrapped up their Auckland/Wellington/Christchurch Light After The Dark tour that I wish I could have gone to – these guys are a magic live act – and have recently been announced in the long-awaited Auckland Folk Festival 2024 line-up!
Roll on January, I can’t wait, and hope to see you there… in the meantime - go buy their album!!!
About Albi & The Wolves
With this love and respect of music in all its forms, Albi and The Wolves not only offer vibrant and refreshing original songs which burst open the seams of traditional folk music, but they also inject their signature sound into modern classics from artists as diverse as Micheal Jackson, and Pink Floyd.
Since the band's formation in 2014, they have excelled in New Zealand's live music scene, pulling in large crowds with their unique performance style, making it irresistible to dance.
Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Albi & The Wolves
Releases
Other Reviews By Hannah Jane
Lee Martin - Album Review: Dreamers Dawn
17 Nov 2024 // by Hannah Jane
Christchurch-based singer-songwriter Lee Martin has released her third studio album Dreamers Dawn – a dozen original songs crafted while dealing with personal challenges Lee faced during a time of transformation. The highs and lows are evident to the listener throughout the album, which includes highly personal lyric layered in a bed of genres from Indie Folk to Americana.
Read More...
South for Winter - Album Review: Of Sea and Sky
17 Jun 2024 // by Hannah Jane
Recorded and produced in Nashville TN alongside two-time Grammy award-winner, Matt Leigh, Of Sea and Sky is a beautiful offering from folk-rock trio South For Winter. New Zealander Nick Stone, Colorado native Dani Cichon (Stone), and Michigander Alex Stradal are three multi-instrumentalists and songwriters.
Read More...
Matt Joe Gow & Kerryn Fields - Album Review: I Remember You
24 May 2024 // by Hannah Jane
I Remember You is the recently released collaborative offering from multi award winning Americana/Folk duo Matt Joe Gow & Kerryn Fields. Over ten delightful songs, this record weaves stories of loss and love together with a strong sense of connection to the places they call home.
Read More...
Gig Review: Don McGlashan @ OneOneSix, Whangarei - 8/11/2023
14 Nov 2023 // by Hannah Jane
Back at my favourite musical venue up here in Whangarei tonight… OneOneSix is a community space beautifully set up for intimate shows suited to an attentive listening audience. If you live in Northland and haven’t been here yet, come join us!
Read More...
Gig Review: Hollie Smith @ One One Six, Whangarei - 4/11/2023
05 Nov 2023 // by Hannah Jane
Hollie Smith made a low-key entrance to the stage for her solo and intimate evening of music in Whangarei last night. There was a relaxed and casual vibe to the sold-out show, and the crowd responded well to Hollie’s candid delivery.
Read More...
Sam Heselwood - Single Review: Home
27 Jun 2023 // by Hannah Jane
Home is the new single from professional rugby player turned pop star Sam Heselwood – an up and coming Otautahi star who has already hit the charts and is clearly ‘one to watch’. An authentically vulnerable song, Home is both sweet and strong, and thoughtfully produced – recorded by Terence O’Connor and mixed by Simon Gooding.
Read More...
Jessica Leigh - Single Review: Wired
26 May 2023 // by Hannah Jane
Jessica Leigh’s new single Wired is a curious mix of upbeat pop and melancholic tones through jaded lyrics; “I’m getting tired, so I’m getting wired”. The lyrics in this track are heavily repetitive in part and given space to breathe in others, whilst carried by a fast moving and ever-changing bed of 80’s inspired music.
Read More...
The Robba - Album Review: In The Dark
29 Mar 2023 // by Hannah Jane
In The Dark is the new heavy rock album by New Zealand one man band The Robba, filled with hard-hitting tracks all painstakingly created by himself. Layers of guitar, vocals, synths and beats form a strong foundation for the social narrative woven into this baker’s dozen of lyrical laments.
Read More...
Most Viewed Artists
Latest Galleries
NZ Top 10 Singles
- APT.
ROSÉ And Bruno Mars - DIE WITH A SMILE
Lady Gaga And Bruno Mars - BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Billie Eilish - TASTE
Sabrina Carpenter - I LOVE YOU, I'M SORRY
Gracie Abrams - ESPRESSO
Sabrina Carpenter - SAILOR SONG
Gigi Perez - LOSE CONTROL
Teddy Swims - A BAR SONG (TIPSY)
Shaboozey - GOOD LUCK, BABE!
Chappell Roan
More Content on muzic.net.nz
Google Site Search
100% New Zealand Music
All content on this website is copyright to muzic.net.nz and other respective rights holders. Redistribution of any material presented here without permission is prohibited.
Report A Problem
