Notes on Thursday

Happy Earth Day! I hope people planted trees, ate local food, etc. As I was thinking about what band I wanted to talk about today, I remembered the lovely lovely Frightened Rabbit. Now, I'm not sure that they have some huge connection with earth day (other than being indie and beardy) but singer-guitarist Scott Hutchison is from Scotland. Scotland always seems to rich and green and mysterious in a very earthy way, so . . . there you go!

I first came across Frightened Rabbit last year, around the time I went away to Oxford. Their second full-length album, Midnight Organ Fight came out in April of 2008, but my first listens to it were while soaring over dark oceans and driving past snowy fields. Rather perfect, really. Because Frightened Rabbit's music covers a plethora of emotions--it is at times dance-tastic, sweet, angry, or sorrowful (the sort that makes you want to lie on the floor of your bedroom). Beyond that, Scott Hutchison is an amazing wordsmith, with a gift for phrasing and the ability to put your indescribable emotions into perfect words. Midnight Organ Fight is about the demise of a relationship--in particular, his--and it filled with poignancy, aching realism, and a deceptive sense of mirth in songs with a jaunty keyboard line and jarringly lonely words. According to Wikipedia, it took Scott Hutchison a month to be able to listen to the record after its completion.

On March 9th of this year they came out with a new album, A Winter of Mixed Drinks, which I unfortunately have not been able to purchase beyond a few singles. However, I'm really excited to hear it, and love the songs I'm hearing! They have maintained their flawless combination of indie-pop and folk with rock solid lyrics, and one particularly single, "Nothing like You" is on absolute repeat. I think poor Alonso (my iPod) might be getting a bit tired of it, honestly!



Also <3: "The Twist" "Keep Yourself Warm" "Modern Leaper" "Swim Until You Can't See Land"