Tuxedo of Ashes

Recording information: The Boomerang Ranch, Hadley, MA (04/2010-07/2010).
If you've ever wondered what it would have sounded like if Nick Drake had survived his 1974 antidepressant overdose and gone on to form a band with Red House Painters/Sun Kil Moon frontman Mark Kozelek and Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval, the fragile, haunting folk-rock of Winterpills continues to provide a possible answer on Tuxedo of Ashes. For this six-song EP, the band abjured studio sessions in favor of a home-recording approach, which lends the whole endeavor both a greater degree of intimacy and, for all of the gentleness of the overall vibe, an increased sense of immediacy. Melancholy is an effective emotional tool in the Winterpills arsenal, and it's present on Tuxedo of Ashes from the beginning, as things open on an elegiac note with "Are You Sleeping (Cinnamon, Cardamom, Lithium)?" Awash in spectral Mellotron lines and Drake-like fingerpicked acoustic guitar patterns, the song salutes the late Vic Chesnutt, Mark "Sparklehorse" Linkous, and Big Star's Alex Chilton and Andy Hummell, all of whom passed away between late 2009 and 2010. The mood turns slightly more sinister, underscored by some spooky cello commentary, on the subtly creepy "Feed the Spider." Things scale down to a sparse feel for "Hallway (The Top of the Rickety Stairs)," maintaining a balance between the ethereal and the eerie and tapping into a bit of an early Elliott Smith feel. The surreal lyricism of "The Ballad of the Anxious Decoder" suggests what might happen if Fleet Foxes started swapping their weed for LSD, and "A Magnet -- To the Light!" is a concise palate-clearer before the sweeping, semi-epic title track, where Winterpills are joined by an all-star backing choir including Grant Lee Phillips and members of Fountains of Wayne and Miracle Legion, among others. It all adds up to a short but substantive day trip into the moody, mysterious world of Winterpills, and an effective enticement to pay attention to what comes next on the full-length follow-up. ~ J. Allen