Release the Sunbird: Come Back to Us

    You may have heard of Rogue Wave, and if so, you will probably like Release the Sunbird, the moniker used by Rogue Wave bandleader, Zach Schwartz (a.k.a "Zach Rogue"), in this side project release. Even then, it is not ncessarily a side project, it involves all the members of Rogue Wave who just wanted to do something a little different. Come Back to Us came out July, 26, 2011 and is a folk largely acoustic album with a carefree attitude and simple pleasing melodies. It is on the Bushfire Records label.

    Rogue Wave is a folk inspired band, but really indie rock with some lo-fi thrown in, and perhaps Release the Sunbird contains the music Zach has had in his head all this time and wasn't able to bring out. It seems and is being hailed as his most complete work to date, though I liked a lot of the stuff on Rogue Wave's latest album, Permalight (2010). But, this album just moves effortlessly from one song to the next, and contains a few nuances that firmly point to Rogue Wave's style (the heavier drum beats), but ultimately it steers clear of that style. It just makes me think that Zach would rather have a banjo in his hands than an electric guitar. The vocals recorded over themselves is nice too, adding depth to the harmonic value of this album. But, those might actually be his fellow band mates too at times (or a female voice as can be seen in the videos on this page of their website). Nevertheless, each verse is mostly just Zach and then there always seems to be the swirl of voices in the chorus or wherever the song builds. It is hard to tell the difference, even Zach has one of those voices that is super popular these days--in the same vein as Sufjan, Death Cab, Bon Iver perhaps, Scattered Trees, Freelance Whales, Andrew Bird, Tokyo Police Club (maybe), etc... There are so many that have that slight airy-ness, falsetto-ish, plan but effective voice. I don't know another way to put it. And I may not be entirely correct in my comparisons, what do you think?

    The album starts out in true Rogue Wave fashion, and then goes soft and contemplative pretty much the rest of the album. It's a good entry, but I prefer the later songs more than the first. I love the streams of sounds or counter melodies that creep in and fade out, like the flute-ish sound on "Best Thing for Me" (reminds me of Beirut a bit) or electronic sounds on "Always Like the Son". Check out "Back Strikes Back", which is not one of their quieter tracks, but there are some cool licks, over under the 'Monthly Sample Tracks', or listen to a few tracks on their website here. There is no full album stream available yet, there was for a while on NPR.org.