It’s almost baffling that the Album Leaf has been around for 10 years and they’ve never hit it big. On their latest release, the appropriately titled Chorus of Storytellers, producer Jimmy LaValle brought the live touring band together to record a much fuller sound than he’s ever achieved on the four albums preceding this one.
The definition of chorus is: “a group of persons singing in unison.” Now, there aren’t necessarily a choir of voices on this album, but with multiple people recording multiple instruments, the album has the choral quality hinted at with the title. One of the better mellow and ambient releases I’ve heard in awhile, Chorus of Storytellers mixes the strong instrumentals ever-present on the previous albums Into the Blue Again and In A Safe Place with the newly synergic band vibe created in the studio.
The album opens with two tracks void of vocals, “Perro” and “Black Pages,” with an especially fitting title for the latter song. Because of the more saturated recording, those two songs are quite reminiscent of Sigur Ros, without sounding copycat-ish. In this case, starting the album with the lack of vocals added to the eerie feel of Chorus of Storytellers. The next few songs, “There is a Wind,” “Within Dreams,” and “Falling From the Sun,” give a slight Postal Service-esque feel to the album, with the synthetic sounds LaValle uses so effectively. And even more fitting, when I first listened to “Stand Still,” it almost sounded like an underrated b-side from an early Death Cab for Cutie album. The final songs are also beautiful, cerebral ambient tracks, similar again to those of Sigur Ros. And yet, these all fit perfectly together, flowing from one song to the next.
While all these reminders of other artists could detract from the artist we’re actually listening to – The Album Leaf – somehow they don’t. As a fifth album, Chorus of Storytellers is exactly where The Album Leaf should be – familiar, yet fresh. From strings to piano, synthesizer to straight vocals, LaValle put forth his best effort yet, matching both the organic fairytale quality of In A Safe Place and internal complexity of Into the Blue Again. Without the presence of too much vocals, you just get to listen to the music, which is what ambient music should be about. The ambiance, not necessarily the content.
I mean, who needs all the lyrics when you can just feel the music?
Track Listing:
- Perro
- Blank Pages
- There Is a Wind
- Within Dreams
- Falling from the Sun
- Stand Still
- Summer Fog
- Until the Last
- We Are
- Almost There
- Tied Knots
