Sour Widows – Revival Of A Friend (2024) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Sour Widows – Revival Of A Friend (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 51:57 minutes | 1023 MB | Genre: Indie Rock, Female Vocal
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Exploding In Sound Records

Grief doesn’t have an endpoint. No matter how much time passes or how much healing you can muster, the absence stays ubiquitous. But with patience and care, you can endure and live with it. Sour Widows know this. The Oakland-based indie rock outfit was formed in 2017 by bandleaders and best friends Maia Sinaiko and Susanna Thomson during personal upheaval and tragedy: Sinaiko’s partner died and Thomson’s mother was diagnosed with cancer. Their bond and their band anchored them through this time and the songs they wrote processed the death surrounding them. Their debut album Revival of a Friend is resonant indie rock about the spiritually purifying power of connection and love in the face of loss. Across 10 winding and potent guitar-led tracks, they channel their mourning into solidarity and comfort.Oakland, California’s Sour Widows twist together slowcore, bedroom rock and grunge in their distinctive way. Maia Sinaiko and Susanna Thomson, who both provide guitar and vocals, mourn throughout Revival of a Friend but ultimately gain power of their trauma and loss. On the eight-minute closer “Staring into Heaven/Shining,” they eloquently wish for clarity: “If all my anger/ And my pain/ Could catch like a flame/ And purify/ And cremate/ Maybe I could be alive/ Know that you’re safe/ And you feel me/ We communicate/ Beyond God, beyond doubt.” The band, completed by drummer Max Edelman and bassist Timmy Stabler, and complemented by Will Borher (bass) and album producer Maryam Qudus (synths), use a variation on Nirvana’s sudden dynamic shifts in nearly every song. While there are exceptions, like the all-instrumental “Gold Thread,” most tunes swell and ebb in volume with great regularity. Opener “Big Dogs” begins with methodical snare and cymbal before both guitars begin to slowly build. Sinaiko and Thompson both play and sing harmoniously, demonstrating Sour Widow’s greatest strength. Eventually a roar enters before guitar solos ensue, but it ends as suddenly as it begins, with the two voices delicately imploring, “You could bleed me dry if you wanted/ But you’re too shy/ Too shy.” It’s a masterful and compelling beginning that bodes well for what’s to come. Road song “I-90” is a reflection on relationships pondered while driving; power chords crunch as the driver cherishes the sights: “I was just happy I could see you like that/ So prone, so peaceful/ Nothing wrong, the freeway emptied out.” And the gentle “FTGE,” where only an acoustic guitar accompanies the vocals, is a welcome change. Born of personal grief, this forceful debut is filled with hopeful finesse. – Robert Baird

Tracklist:

1-1. Sour Widows – Big Dogs (05:31)
1-2. Sour Widows – Revival (01:55)
1-3. Sour Widows – Witness (05:56)
1-4. Sour Widows – I-90 (04:47)
1-5. Sour Widows – Initiation (06:08)
1-6. Sour Widows – Gold Thread (04:52)
1-7. Sour Widows – Cherish (05:40)
1-8. Sour Widows – FTGE (01:54)
1-9. Sour Widows – Shadow of a Dove (06:59)
1-10. Sour Widows – Staring Into Heaven/Shining (08:11)

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