The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
  • Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Features
    • Live Reviews
    • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • Headlines
    • News
    • Contests
    • Events
    • Entertainment Headlines
    • Concert Listings
    • Toronto Concert Venues
  • New Music
    • Premieres
    • Track Of The Day
  • Track Of The Week
  • Books + Movies
  • About
11
new
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: DRECKIG – “LA BALLENA”
SPILL FEATURE: THE HEART IS STRANGE – A CONVERSATION WITH CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN & SUSANNE FREYTAG OF XPROPAGANDA
SPILL NEWS: OFFICIAL FULL TRAILER FOR ‘A-HA TRUE NORTH’ SHARED BY SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT AND TRAFALGAR RELEASING
SPILL NEW MUSIC: PEARLA SIGNS TO SPACEBOMB + DEBUT LP ‘OH GLISTENING ONION, THE NIGHTTIME IS COMING’ OUT OCTOBER 21 | WATCH THE VIDEO FOR “EFFORT” NOW
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE – BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE (DELUXE EDITION)
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: SUNFRUITS – “MADE TO LOVE”
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: BEVERLY CRUSHER – “GIMMIE THE POWER”
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ROY SHAKKED – THROWBACK
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: DAYAWAY – “SUMMER’S END”
SPILL FEATURE: A PERFECT DISH TO SERVE – A CONVERSATION WITH PETER HOOK
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: ORMISTON – “HAMMER DOWN”
  • Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Features
    • Live Reviews
    • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • Headlines
    • News
    • Contests
    • Events
    • Entertainment Headlines
    • Concert Listings
    • Toronto Concert Venues
  • New Music
    • Premieres
    • Track Of The Day
  • Track Of The Week
  • Books + Movies
  • About
  • Spill Menu
    • Reviews
      • Album Reviews
      • Features
      • Live Reviews
      • Festivals
    • Portraits
    • Headlines
      • News
      • Contests
      • Events
      • Entertainment Headlines
      • Concert Listings
      • Toronto Concert Venues
    • New Music
      • Premieres
      • Track Of The Day
    • Track Of The Week
    • Books + Movies
    • About
Album Reviews
288
Editor Pick
previous article
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: BOB DYLAN - TRAVELIN’ THRU, 1967-1969: THE BOOTLEG SERIES VOL. 15
next article
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: AGS CONNOLLY - WRONG AGAIN

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: VETIVER – UP ON HIGH

Vetiver

Vetiver
Up On High
Mama Bird Recordings

Four years since his last album Complete Strangers, Vetiver returns with Up on High, a groovy, chilled-out acoustic-driven collection of songs that feature poetic, imagistic lyrics and a hopeful tone from song-to-song that reflects a certain kind of weathered contentedness with life that is refreshing and, dare I say, relatable.

First, the lyricism here provides much to ponder and much to relate to, and is already calling me back for further listening. From the opening track “The Living End” all the way through the title track “Up on High” at the back end of the album, Andy Cabic’s soft, soulful, scratchy voice is front and center and reveals a thematic concern with his own current circumstances in life, what’s coming and what’s already gone, how to feel about it all, and where to go next. That being said, he doesn’t seem to be in a rush, choosing instead to enjoy the moment he is in.

The end result here seems to be a set of songs by someone who is equal parts world-weary and experienced, but also aware enough of his own weariness to have developed a gratitude for the understanding and insight that has been gained by it all. To be world-weary, the premise goes, you must have some life experience to be world-weary of, and Cabic has made an album that manages to rise triumphantly above it all, at least temporarily, like someone sticking their head out the car window to feel the wind on their face for the first time in a while. Here, he has taken an old life, breathed it all in, and breathed it back out again in a long satisfied exhale.

Lyrics like “For now we have all we could want,”, “what’s past is past, wanted, never asked,” and

“I’m on the outside looking in/
Tell me where do I begin?/
Tomorrow waits for you and I/
Up on high,”

from the title track suggest someone pausing to look around before deciding where to go next, a thematic concern that arises in virtually every song.

Musically, I kept thinking of the early Brushfire Records days of Jack Johnson and Donavon Frankenreiter—especially Frankenreiter’s self-titled album—mostly for their similar chillness and ease with the world, with one difference being that Vetiver’s sound is more awash in a hazy twang with crystalline guitar-picking at times in which you can often hear fingers sliding up and down the strings. I can also hear tinges of Tom Petty, Paul Simon, and R.E.M. here as well depending on the track.

Overall, this is a consistently beautiful and poetic album whose lyricism and chill optimism offers a replayability and relatability that is highly enjoyable from the start and whose overall sound places it squarely amongst some truly great, chilled out albums of yore.



Artist Links

website_flat_2016 facebook_flat_2016 twitter_flat_2016 instagram_flat_2016

Editor Pick
Item Reviewed

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: VETIVER – UP ON HIGH

Author

Dan Kennard

Here's what we think...
Spill Rating
Fan Rating
Rate Here
New Criteria
10
10
9.0
Total Spill Rating
10
Total Fan Rating
2 ratings
You have rated this
Album Reviews
album reviewalbum reviewsmama bird recordingsup on highvetiver
album review, album reviews, mama bird recordings, up on high, vetiver
About the Author
Dan Kennard
Dan Kennard is an English teacher and fiction writer living outside Kansas City, Kansas where he lives with his wife and children. More about his work can be found at amazon.com/author/dankennard. You can also follow him on Twitter and Instagram @kennardistry or contact him at [email protected]
RELATED ARTICLES
album reviewalbum reviews
 
9.0
c

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE – BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE (DELUXE EDITION)

by Melinda Welsh on August 5, 2022
Bullet For My Valentine Bullet For My Valentine (Deluxe Edition) Spinefarm Records Bullet for My Valentine have just released a deluxe edition of [...]
 
8.0
Roy Shakked

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ROY SHAKKED – THROWBACK

by Ljubinko Zivkovic on August 2, 2022
Roy Shakked Throwback Groove Gravy Records Since Steely Dan appeared in full force me 50 years ago, many other artists have tried to reach their almost inaccessible heights. They have sat [...]
 
9.0
Frances Chang

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FRANCES CHANG – SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL NIHILIST

by Ljubinko Zivkovic on July 22, 2022
Frances Chang Support Your Local Nihilist Independent It might be quite a task to locate New York artist Frances Chang on social media. One of the reasons might be that [...]
 
9.0
Paul Weller

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: PAUL WELLER – 22 DREAMS (VINYL REISSUE)

by Aaron Badgley on July 22, 2022
Paul Weller 22 Dreams (Vinyl Reissue) Island/Universal Records In June, 2008, Paul Weller released his ninth solo album, 22 Dreams. It was a massive album in the U.K. and Europe. In fact it [...]
 
9.0
Spore
—

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: SPORE – HERETIC

by Aaron Badgley on July 22, 2022
Spore Heretic Hamfuggi Records Spore is a duo composed of Deborah Fialkiewicz and John Koser. Both are established artists in the world of electronic music and both have created some incredible art [...]

Latest Album Reviews
View All
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE – BULLET FOR MY V...
9.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ROY SHAKKED – THROWBACK
8.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FRANCES CHANG – SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL NIHILIST
9.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: PAUL WELLER – 22 DREAMS (VINYL REISSUE)
9.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: SPORE – HERETIC
9.0
—

Tweets by @spillmagazine

SPILL MAGAZINE MENU
  • Checkout
  • Home | The Spill Magazine
  • Order Confirmation
  • Order Failed
  • Premieres
  • Track Of The Week
  • Album Reviews
  • Books + Movies
  • Features
  • Live Reviews
  • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • News
  • Events
  • Entertainment Headlines
  • Concert Listings
  • Toronto Concert Venues
  • About Us
  • Contests
  • New Music
  • Spill Magazine Contributors
  • TOTD
  • Privacy Policy
  • The Scene Unseen
  • Newsletter

Copyright © 2022 | The Spill Magazine
All Rights Reserved.

TRENDING RIGHT NOW
   
 
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: RICH JACQUES – “EVERYTHING MUST CHANGE”
941
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE FIXX – EVERY FIVE SECONDS
654
 
SPILL FEATURE: DON’T YOU FEEL CLOSER? – A CONVERSATION WITH CY CURNIN OF THE FIXX
630
 
SPILL FEATURE: A PERFECT DISH TO SERVE – A CONVERSATION WITH PETER HOOK
434
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FANTASTIC NEGRITO – WHITE JESUS BLACK PROBLEMS
365
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: AVI KAPLAN – FLOATING ON A DREAM
357
 
SPILL LIVE REVIEW: KRAFTWERK @ MASSEY HALL, TORONTO
340
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE SHEEPDOGS – OUTTA SIGHT
256
 
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: THE CAUGHTERY – “FRAGILE”
237
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: SHINEDOWN – PLANET ZERO
209
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ALAN PARSONS – FROM THE NEW WORLD
200
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: STARS – FROM CAPELTON HILL
199
 
SPILL FEATURE: WE WOULDN’T BE INTERESTED IN MAKING ANOTHER CRISIS – A CONVERSATION WITH GEORGE PETTIT OF ALEXISONFIRE
198
ENTERTAINMENT HEADLINES