To kick off the new year proper, two beautifully wintry and otherworldly album openers from the Texan folk rock band, both of which take a broad, historic perspective. The band was begun in 1999 as by a group of jazz students at the University of North Texas College of Music, but evolved into their own sound, a mixture of Jethro Tull, Grandaddy and a dash of Fleetwood Mac, not to mention other early 70s English prog such as Pentangle or the Incredible String Band, with their gorgeously gentle, evocative songs mixing acoustic guitar, flute and vocal harmonies. The first is from 2010's The Courage of Others, the second from 2006's The Trials of Van Occupanther, released on the Bella Union label. Frontman Tim Smith left the band during the recording of the next album, and guitarist Eric Pulido took over as lead singer, leading a whole new album, 2013's Antiphon, which is also worth checking out.
If all that grows
Starts to fade
Starts to falter
Oh, let me inside
Let me inside
Not to wake
Let all that run
Through the fields
Through the quiet
Go on with their own
On with their own
Hidden ways
[Verse 2]
When all the newness of gold
Travels far from
Where it had once been
Worn like the Earth over years
And when the acts of Man
Cause the ground to break open
Oh, let me inside
Let me inside
Not to wake
[Chorus]
Great are the sounds of all that live
And all that man can hold
Stonecutters made them from stones
Chosen specially for you and I
Who will live inside
The mountaineers gathered timber
Piled high
In which to take along
Travelling many miles, knowing they'd get here
When they got here, all exhausted
On the roof leaks they got started
And now when the rain comes
We can be thankful
Ooh aah ooh
When the mountaineers
Saw that everything fit, they were
Glad and so they took off
Thought we were due for
A change or two
Around this place
When they get back they're all mixed up with no one to stay with
The village used to be all one really needs
Now it's filled with hundreds and hundreds of
Chemicals that mostly surround you
You wish to flee but it's not like you
So listen to me, listen to me
Oh, oh, oh and when the morning comes
We will step outside
We will not find another man in sight
We like the newness, the newness of all
That has grown in our garden, struggling for so long
Whenever I was a child I wondered what if my name had changed into something more productive like Roscoe
Been born in 1891
Waiting with my Aunt Rosaline
Thought we were due for
A change or two
Around this place
When they get back they're all mixed up with no one to stay with
1891
They roamed around and foraged
They made their house from cedars
They made their house from stone
Oh, they're a little like you, and
They're a little like me
We have all we need
Thought we were due for
A change or two
Around this place
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