Top of the Tuesday to you, thieves. This week we’ve got mesmerizing Americana from .
The Denver three-piece Chimney Choir is frothing with creativity. Itap likely that simple life tasks, like making scrambled eggs, are done with a fresh perspective. We imagine their eggs are softened with sheep’s milk. Take their album release: The band is set to reveal its first studio LP, “(compass)”following up an early 2012 live LP, but rather than just drop the album on the masses, they’re trickling it out a few tracks per month. The first few songs will be available on Mar 24 at a performance they are calling “Episode One: Look West” at the . But itap not just the way they are releasing the disc thatap original, they also have a whole legend surrounding the album’s origins, including finding a treasure map on the river Rhein that will lead them to the songs. See listeners, it seems, each song release is a clue, and the album is the treasure.
One might reasonably assume that all this extra creativity with the album’s origins and release is a smoke screen for crap music. Oh, not so. Not at all.
Here, we offer you “Poor Boy,” a sneak track from the album and the only song we’ve heard. A strummed chord progression leads listeners into a lushly layered world of Americana with deftly woven, gorgeous harmonies, tinkling and swaying piano and strings, and one memorable harmonica solo. There is no single aspect of this song that makes it great. The lyrical refrain – “I don’t mind sleeping on it” – is barely referential, but is still pleasing and lasting, and there is no real hook. Instead, this song must be taken as a whole, all the way to the end, which bows out in a sigh. With this production prowess and musical mastery, we’re hoping the sum of the whole album will be as great as the sum of this song.
The Leon Gallyer show this Sunday starts 8pm at features and . Chimney Choir will also be performing at ’s CD release on Mar 22 at . (Steal a Paper Bird track in the coming weeks!) Both of these bands are helping redefine Americana music.
Please note that downloads offered via Steal This Track are intended to whet your appetite, and are NOT CD-quality recordings. If you want those, please support the artists by buying their music and/or seeing them live.
If you’re a band or musician ready to expose your fresh sounds to the readers of Reverb, email your tracks — along with any interesting facts about them, as well as a photo or album art — to Steal This Track for consideration.
Josh Johnson is a Denver freelance writer and Reverb contributor. He is also a co-host/co-producer of the Denver podcast .
