Album Review – The Wild Reeds – The World We Built

To be in harmony means more than just creating a pleasing sound and on The Wild Reeds’ new album The World We Built three parallel voices combine together to create a distinct instrument all of its own.

Opening track ‘Only Songs‘ tells you to forget what you thought your life was going to be like, forget the crap you’ve gone through, forget about politics, religion, even forget about love. The only thing that matters in life is music – we are here for the sake of the song. Sing it at the top of your lungs and know that this is a band ready to take you places.

The benefits of having a band with three lead voices are that the harder edges of bleak breakup songs like Everything Looks Better (in Hindsight) are softened by the support from the other two singers and equally love songs like Fix You Up are never allowed to become too soppy or poppy. There’s some great indie rock songs here and comparisons to First Aid Kit and Rilo Kiley/Jenny Lewis are justified. What’s great about songs like Catch and Release and Fall To Sleep is that even with their obvious influences the sound they create still feels refreshingly new and their confessional lyrics set them apart.

The interchangeable lead vocal duties and songwriting means at times you feel like you’re listening to three albums at once. Thankfully the talent is spread so equally among the group that this is a blessing. To see these women supporting each other as a band and yet allowing each individual space to be themselves is more than just feminist inspiration – it reminds us that this is how it always should be.

So if the only thing that saves us is the songs we sing then spend some time learning the words to The World We Built. You won’t regret a minute spent singing along to this joyfully cathartic album.