Lawrence Arabia: The Sparrow

    The New Zealand/Australian music scene doesn't always make its way here. I'm sure Triple-J has a pretty solid following from both countries and I believe that station tends to be pretty up on the indie scene. One such act that I'd only heard recently on WITR, 89.7 FM, "The Pulse of Music", is Lawrence Arabia. The face of Lawrence Arabia is the solo act of New Zealander James Milne, who is also the frontman for a band called The Reduction Agents. The latter has one album released, The Dance Reduction Agents (2006). Other productions James Milne has been involved with is bassist for Okkervil River, a Texas indie rock band, and as multi-instrumental rotating member of The Brunettes. Lawrence Arabia was once on the L'il Chief Records lineup when Milne released his debut, Lawrence Arabia (2006), but more recently is on Honorary Bedouin Records for his second album, Chanting (2009) and now the much more recognized label Bella Union for The Sparrow (2012).
    A fair description of Lawrence Arabia's musical style on The Sparrow is a light neo-classic rock (think Beatles-esque arrangements) with chamber pop and folk sensibilities. The string playing is beautiful while haunting at times, adding depth to the harmony and rhythm of several tracks. Brass also plays a backup role throughout and piano is found on nearly every track. The drumming is not overdone and the poppy electric bass produces funk leanings. James Milne himself has a widely ranged voice, utilizing falsetto in some places while capturing a classic rock characteristic timbre. Some time I definitely hear essence of Radiohead as well, which is never a bad thing.
    Some of my favorite tracks on The Sparrow are:
3) "The Listening Times" - track 3, has lush vocals and a folk dirge-like rhythmic feeling with very effective usage of violin pizzicato.
6) "Early Kneecappings" - track 6, phenomenal, sounds a lot like a Radiohead song the way it emerges and expands throughout the track, the string tremelos at the end of the song are nice (though they sound scratchy and should have been produced by multiple violins not just one to make them sound more even? unless that was the intended effect), this would have been quite a contender in the 2012 best songs had I heard of Lawrence Arabia back then.
9) "Legends" - track 9, is an interesting track that flows from one style to the next in effort to wind things down and tie up the album, which it does nicely, there are beautiful moments and unique string lines.
    Overall, the album has dark brooding tendencies, with many melodies turning to a minor key often to produce a very somber and mellow quality. Take a listen to their entire album (and discography) on Lawrence Arabia's Bandcamp, here (which also has The Reduction Agents), or just check out the track "Early Kneecappings" over under the 'Monthly Sample Tracks'. Enjoy!