Wintersleep
The Great Detachment
Dine Alone Records
A few years ago, economist and Freakonomics co-author Stephen Dubner declared McDonaldโs McDouble hamburger to be the “cheapest and most nutritious food in human historyโ, measuring its price against its nutritional value.ย Now, ย no one’sย going to get in better shape by scarfing down a bunch of cheeseburgers, but if youโre living on fifteen dollars a day, it may be the best means to an end in terms ofย sustenance.ย Wintersleepโsย new record, The Great Detachment, pleads a similar case: the production is crisp, the songs are digestible, and if you only have terrestrial radio at your disposal, you could do a lot worse than hearingย โAmerikaโ four to six times a day at your part-time retail job.
The Great Detachment is music for the casual listener.ย It is the soundtrack to aย young parent running errands, a tech-savvy friend showing off his new Bluetooth-enabled sound system, a work retreat or a Verizonย commercial.ย And thatโs not necessarily a bad thing: ย The Greatย Detachment is ripe with massive drums, richly layered vocal harmonies, ย andย vocalist/guitarist Paul Murphy’s matter-of-fact murmurย that sounds like a passive-aggressiveย Spencer Krug with a chip on his shoulder.
There are also some really good tracks on hereย that remind the listener that Wintersleep can still challenge its audience when they feel like it.ย โMetropolisโ is five minutes of broody, gorgeous hopelessness, andย โFreak Outโ is chock full of hooky choruses and spacey guitars.
With five full lengths, an opening slot for Sir Paulย McCartney, and a Juno award already under their belt, itโs no surprise that the band has written such a giant, polished record. The scope of the album suggests an understanding among the bandย members that theyโre ready to make big money. ย Songs like โLove Liesโ andย โSpiritโย beg to be that set opener with the planetarium light showย that would earn them a much-coveted eight or nine pm slot at Osheaga. The Great Detachment really shoots for the moon, and will probably find the band more commercial success, but some personality is lost along the way.
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SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: WINTERSLEEP – THE GREAT DETACHMENT
Marko Woloshyn