More New Music From Forest Fire

forestfireBack in July, I shared an enchanting new single with you called “Waiting in the Night” from up and coming indie pop band Forest Fire.  Today the band has been kind enough to offer up another new single entitled “Alone With the Wires” which can be streamed below.  Similar to the previously shared track, this one is also a bit of a slower/melodic type pop song that will pay off with each and every listen.  Hope you enjoy.

New album Screens will be out on September 10th via Fat Cat Records.

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Enchanting Pop From Forest Fire

forestfireForest Fire is a band that seemingly blew up over night a few years ago with the release of Survival, but have since cooled off quite a bit while quietly releasing new album Staring at the X in 2011.  Well the band are returning in 2013 with a planned new album entitled Screens coming our way on September 10th via Fat Cat Records.  Below you can find the first single “Waiting in the Night” made available a few days ago.  It’s a bit of a slow bunner pop style song with beats and guitars that remind me of earlier style Yeasayer.  I have no problem with that.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/1-Waiting-in-the-Night.mp3]

Download: Forest Fire – Waiting in the Night [MP3]

Forest Fire – Staring at the X

Rating: ★★½☆☆

Since the release of their album, Survival, it seems everyone has gotten behind New York’s Forest Fire, though they haven’t quite broken into the top tier.  Staring at the X is supposed to be the record that gets them there, propelling them into our speakers for repeated spins.  For all intents and purposes, it’s a good record, just not quite sure it’s that record.

“Born Into” begins the record with a bit of a trickle, as Mark Thresher takes to the vocals, barely speaking them as atmospheric blips jump in and out.  But, then the song takes flight, going further into the noise spectrum, as Natalie Stormann joins in backing vocals.  It’s fairly noisy, in comparison to the rest of the record, but it just doesn’t go anywhere before the track ends. However, this is a complete contradiction to “Future Shadows,” the following track on Staring at the X. There’s a bit of a quiver in Thresher’s vocals, sort of like our old friend Devandra.  Ringing guitars eventually flesh out the track, fusing with the melody Mark brings to the table.  It’s definitely a stand out.

One thing that seems to hold Forest Fire back on this release is a lack of a true musical identity.  “The News” has this great feeling of folky-stomper fused with machine/guitar tampering that definitely provides a uniqueness you’ll struggle to find elsewhere.  Even the sax solo fits perfectly, but then the band goes somewhere completely off the map.  “They Pray Execution Style” follows with a haunting number, one fueled by a sense of impending musical doom.  Natalie Stormann takes the lead here, and while her voice does well in this realm, the song itself doesn’t really have a place in the whole of the record, which ends up being a problem–on the whole, it’s skippable.

As you move along into Staring at the X, there are some fairly decent songs, such as “Mtns are Mtns,” a number that surely will appeal to those who appreciate decent slide guitar, piano and sprawling guitars.  It’s short enough to be pleasant, but not long enough to really establish itself as a winner.  Similarly, the album’s title track, “Staring at the X,” approaches more of a singer/songwriter approach than any of the other tracks, relying mostly on Thresher and lightly strummed guitars.  On any other record, you’d love this track, but it comes off here as a rather mundane tune.

Hardly a song on here could clearly be stated as disposable, so that’s a good thing I reckon.  However, having spent the last few days listening to Forest Fire, the whole recording doesn’t seem that remarkable to me.  Songs seems out of place when looking at Staring at the X as a whole, and the album suffers because of this inconsistency.  I can where we’d all enjoy some tracks as piecemeal collections, but united, it falls short of the lofty goals I think we all had in mind for the band. Better luck next time I suppose.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Future-Shadows.mp3]

Download: Forest Fire – Future Shadows [MP3]

New Tunes from Forest Fire

Man, it’s been a really good day for quirky pop numbers all over the Internets.  This sprawling little number from New York’s Forest Fire is just another one of those.  The band have recently signed to Fat Cat, who will be releasing their newest album, Staring at the X, on October 18th.  If you listen closely, I swear you’ll hear the voice of Devandra Banhart, though the music sounds nothing at all like that.  Light orchestrated touches come in and out, and carefully echoed guitar chords clang in the background.  Whatever their formula is for songwriting, I’m absolutely loving it today.

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Future-Shadows.mp3]

Download: Forest Fire – Future Shadows [MP3]

Forest Fire Album Download

You can download the entire new album from Forest Fire entitled Survival from the Catbird Records website entirely for free. You can also tip the band if you want or get a hard copy of the album for muy cheap. Preview the album before you spend all that time downloading it by giving a listen to “Fortune Teller” on our website:

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/02-fortune-teller.mp3]

Download: Forest Fire – Fortune Teller [MP3]