Shearwater - Thieves (2005)

 

6/10 ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

Let it be known that my album reviews reflect only my views on the record itself and are not a reflection of my view of the artist as a whole. It does pain me a bit to not be able to rank this any higher, but it just didn't speak to me. The mind behind Shearwater is Johnathan Meiburg who outside of fronting this band is an accomplished ornithologist! I myself am a birder and someone whose career and academics have focused on biology while my heart burns for the art of music. I feel like a kindred soul to him, as if we were cut from the same cloth. This is a nice little EP, but it just didn't quite feel novel to me.

Highlights: Mountain Laurel and Near A Garden - I just couldn't pick one for this EP. Mountain Laurel is a plain old, good-timing, banjo-stomping, tune. Near A Garden does something I really love, soul-stirring lyrics atop a "happy" instrumental. Death is hard, grief is harder, and understanding and accepting them is hardest. Near A Garden does a nice job of talking about death in a way that doesn't feel soul-crushing, while is more difficult to do than people give credit for.