Punch Brothers – All Ashore (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/96 kHz | Time – 43:16 minutes | 913 MB | Genre: Folk
Studio Master, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Nonesuch
Punch Brothers return with All Ashore, their first album since 2015’s The Phosphorescent Blues. The band wrote all nine songs on the album, which they self-produced and recorded in Los Angeles. “It’s a meditation on committed relationships in the present day,” says Chris Thile, “particularly in the present climate.”
Here’s a delicious sound stew in which the Punch Brothers have put the best Americana sounds. For this fifth album, Chris Thile, mandolin player and singer, offers with his four accomplices an ensemble of ballads full of sweetness and suitable for meditation. In total, All Ashore contains nine tracks and becomes the first self-produced album of the band. Recorded in Los Angeles and released by the Nonesuch label, All Ashore is, according to Thile, like a work of “meditation on committed relationships in the present day”. The Punch Brothers update here the typical instruments of Americana. Banjo (Noam Pikelny), fiddle (Gabe Witcher), mandolin (Chris Thile) and guitar (Chris Eldridge), supported by double bass (Paul Kowert) and vocals. In respect with traditional music, they lead into modernity, both in a music and lyric sense. The note is as important as the lyric, if not more… The Punch Brothers don’t indulge in excessive chatter. Each expresses himself through his instrument, as evidenced by Three Dots and a Dash or It’s All Part of the Plan. Through instrumental superimposition, the riffs go one after another, as well as the permanent swinging between nuances and rhythms. While their precedent album, The Phosphorescent Blues, was wandering on the Bluegrass path, notably with titles like Boll Weevil or Forgotten, you will find no recycling here! The pop filled with folk is well and truly there, but Jungle Birdnonetheless evokes a rather quirky blues. It’s a perfect transition between these two albums… And let’s not forget Thile’s melodious voice. In perfect harmony with the playing of his comrades, he displays a great vocal mastery. Whether holding a high note or tackling a lighter and jolting singing, he is always filled with intensity. In the end, All Ashore is a small gold mine, whose richness is accessible to both amateurs and long-time fans. – Clara Bismuth
Tracklist:
01. All Ashore
02. The Angel Of Doubt
03. Three Dots And A Dash
04. Just Look At This Mess
05. Jumbo
06. The Gardener
07. Jungle Bird
08. It’s All Part Of The Plan
09. Like It’s Going Out Of Style
Download: