Customer Reviews

New Inheritors

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first noticed Wintersleep a couple years ago after stumbling upon Weighty Ghost from their third album "Welcome to the Night Sky." I fell in love with them, and immediately set out to discover their back catalog. While their previous two albums held a few gems, the albums didn't compare, as a whole, to Night Sky---an album that won them the Juno Award (Canada's version of a Grammy Award) for Best New Band. So it was with equal parts excitement and trepidation that I awaited their fourth album, "New Inheritors." Could it live up to Night Sky, or was it going to be like their first two albums with some good songs, but not an overall smash?

They blew me away.

This album is incredible, from start to finish. There's not a single song I'll skip, a rarity for any band, or any album. That isn't to say there aren't stand out songs that find their way onto repeat, though. Power songs Trace Decay and Mausoleum have been on repeat for days. Experience the Jewel is a perfect beginning for the album, going from soft and melodic to full out rock (with the help of backing strings). Paul Murphy's voice and lyrics are solid, mature, and, at times, spellbinding, but for me, Loel Campbell (drums) is the stand-out star of the show. Like any good drummer, he can disappear when needed, but there are times when he absolutely steals the show.

If you're a fan of Indie Rock, this is definitely an album to add to your collection.

This band has always been something special - a slightly heavier, layered sound combined with intelligent, introspective lyrics. You won't find many eleven year-olds playing Wintersleep at their pool parties. Each of their successive releases has become increasingly more polished, and I mean that in a good way: they are extremely "listenable" without veering toward the commercial. There's little danger of the programming droids at "Mass Media Channel" jumping on the Wintersleep band wagon anytime soon.

New Inheritors blew me away from the very first track, Experience The Jewel. It opens with a string arrangement and builds slowly before slamming into gear with a sudden whump of the bass drum and unfolding into a truly enigmatic track, helped along by contrasting guitar solos. A great start to an album that, track after track, keeps the momentum going as you wind your way through all the way to the end. There's no filler on this one. Highlights for me were Mausoleum, Trace Decay, and the title track, New Inheritors.

If you know and like Wintersleep, buy New Inheritors now. If you don't know them, buy this now and then work your way back through their catalog. You won't be sorry.

Wintersleep's 2007 release Welcome to the Night Sky (which won them the Canadian Juno award for Best New Band of 2008) is a tough one to follow, but New Inheritors does not disappoint. It's a bit of a slow build through the first few tracks (which is fine), but mid-way through Black Camera all hell starts to break loose and it never lets up from there. Trace Decay and Preservation are my current favorites but I'm sure I'm going to end up loving every track on this album. Wintersleep has a rare gift for avoiding clichés and making serious music without ever seeming pretentious; there's a sincerity and innocence in everything they do.

I have been a Canadian indie fan for a while, but "New Inheritors" has taken my (Matt Good, etc.) passion to a new level! I cannot think of a recording that has struck me this way way in a long while. Thank you, guys, and as a 30+ year professional bass player, thank you Mike Bigelow for making us all look great!

It's not surprising that one of Canada's better new alternative rock bands would come out of the thriving Halifax, Nova Scotia music scene. Welcome the Night Sky was nominated for a Juno Award in 2008. New Inheritors follows that album with big expectations and promise and it surely delivers in spades. Wintersleep features Paul Murphy (vocals and guitar), Tim D'Eon (guitar and keyboards), Mike Bigelow (bass), Jon Samuel (keyboards), and Loel Campbell (drums). New Inheritors is a really consistent listen from start to finish, with 12 terrific tunes and over 50 minutes of music. What impresses me so much about these guys is the sophistication of the arrangements. The album rocks really hard when it needs to, but also includes a heady tapestry of beautiful strings and brass. Tony Doogan produced, recorded and mixed New Inheritors. Great job Tony. I can tell that you were an empathetic producer who got the very best out of Wintersleep. Brass arrangements were done by Mike Cooke, who also arranged the strings, which were performed by Caroline Risi, Ysta Robertson, Rosie Townhill and Liam Lynch. Highlights, well there are plenty of them. Experience the Jewel is an amazing opener, with the dark brooding strings bit to start. Encyclopedia and Blood Collection are rich, and melodious tracks. Black Camera rocks hard. Preservation is a beautiful track and Baltic is a terrific tune to close the set. Paul Murphy's voice is really something. He could sing me to sleep every night and I wouldn't mind - winter, summer, spring, or fall :) You need New Inheritors in your collection. As Siskel and Ebert would say "two thumbs up" and four and half enthusiastic stars!

I have to admit that the more I listen to the album the less interested I am. Most of the songs sound a little too much like Interpol, but sped up. Only Black Camera is a song I will continue playing.