Tour De Vaap

Grace & Lies, the second album by Family Band, bubbles just under the surface.  It never quite boils over the black water, but it doesn’t need to.  This album says it all with as little as possible, and it’s the dark echoing spaces that say the most.  It’s the kind of music to lull you through the night with tales of heartbreak told with little more than a clear voice, guitar and subtle drums.  The husband and wife duo of Kim Krans and Jonny Ollsin melt together into the perfect blend of acoustic ambience and seething electricity (Ollsin used to be an a metal band) that carry over in a landscape of reverberation.  The two coherently combine folk, metal and even classical on their sophomore work.  ”Night Song” is about as heavy as it gets, an opener that points towards the complete and utter sonic destruction these two are capable of without ever reaching the tipping point.  And from there, the album continues in a series of half-folk ballads to lost love, mistakes and an ending (as in the closing track “Rest”).  Throughout, Grace & Lies truly shows how brutal silence can be and how different sounds can be combined to emphasize and entice without going over the top.  The album is out tomorrow, but for a sneak peak you can hear a few songs below or check out this stream on Aquarium Drunkard via No Quarter.

-M. Kauf

Family Band – Night Song

Family Band – Grace & Lies

Tags: Ambient, Family Band, Folk, Indie