Wintersleep
New Inheritors
(Tom Kotter Records)

Wintersleep’s New Inheritors experiments with soaring highs and swooping lows while maintaining a consistent, underlying mood throughout.

“Experience the Jewel” is inviting and impacting, with an evocative lyrical clarity. It opens with a string section unraveling itself to bare guitars and then the drums kick in, unveiling a hard hitting opener. Lines like “a big black cloud of smoke, you can’t grip it by the charcoaled throat” initiate the mood for an album filled with vivid and emotive imagery.

The cleverly titled “Encyclopedia” (lyrically referring to an “encyclopedia of hurt”) is one of the richest sounding tracks overall, with full sounding background vocals, piano driven sections, echoing guitars, and a climactic instrumental break. The title track, “New Inheritors” has a soft, upbeat, and pleasing feel that manages to fit in with all of its thought provoking perfection. Smooth driving melodies quickly become urgent again with the catchy, “Black Camera.” Like most of the other songs, its chorus is lyrically repetitive in the best and most effective way.

From bouncy and happy to stripped down and somber, New Inheritors features sliding bass lines and moody guitars, that construct a creeping sense of calm. Opening and closing orchestral strings act as perfect bookends to this resounding and poignant album.