Villagers – {Awayland} (2013)

This is one of those albums that I ended up buying purely because the band had one amazing song. This song, Nothing Arrived, sounded like the early albums by Arcade Fire, but somehow it was even more melodic and lighter, which I really liked. This song appeared over and over again in Spotify's curated playlists and I had to investigate what this band was all about. Unfortunately {Awayland} wasn't as good as I might've thought purely based on that one song, but it still has its other moments as well, if nothing as exciting as this song. This Irish band mixes acoustic folk with 00's indie rock sounds and come out with melodic and well-produced music. This album sounds a lot like many other bands I've found in the last few years. It has clear echoes of 00's indie rock that I so cherished back in the day, but it has something more modern in its sounds as well.



I bought this album as a jewel case, but it was wrapped in a cardboard case, which makes the album look cooler. I almost never buy jewel case CDs anymore, because I think they look cheap and industrial. I almost only buy 90's albums in that kinds of cases. I feel like 90's albums are meant that way. Anything before the 90's should be bought on vinyl and anything after 90's should be on either vinyl or on a cardboard cases such as digipaks.

The album starts with a minimalistic and quiet song My Lighthouse. This sounds like a text book case of how to make an indie album that will drive away occasional listener, but reward anyone who listens to a bit more. Earthly Pleasures is a great and haunting song where the vocals sound like they were coming from under ground. This reminds me of some darker songs of Ed Harcourt. Like I already said in the intro, my favourite song is Nothing Arrived. This is some brilliant songwriting where seemingly simple melodies lift up the hairs on the back of your hands for sheer enjoyment. The chorus is catchy and beautiful. Truly a masterpiece. Passing a Message continues on the same style as Earthly Pleasures. I really like the short horn stings and the melody is quite nice in the chorus. The album ends in a calm song Rhythm Composer that kind of fades the album out.

Of course you already guessed it, I'm going to link here the music video for Nothing Arrived. It's a great old school video that tells a story of a one day in the life of a man called Terrence Bliss. The lead singer (who kind of looks like a hobbit) is constantly singing the song in the background while Terrence goes about his daily chores. He is an outsider who is annoyed with other people who are having fun as his own life is very lonely and he just dreams of winning the lottery.

I feel like this band would have so much potential, but their songwriting tries to be a bit too obscure and as a result, the songs seem a bit hollow. I think that if they just let their ideas flow more freely, they could make some amazing songs. Their later album was a move towards folk music and not towards indie rock. Whether that's good or not, I couldn't say, but the later album sounds quite good as it is.

Listen to the album on Spotify.