The Wooden Sky - If I Don't Come Home You'll Know I'm Gone (2009)

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I love folk music, but let's be honest, the indie-folk genre has been flooded by mediocrity in recent years. Luckily, Toronto's The Wooden Sky doesn't fall into that category of derivative hacks. I praised their 2007 debut album When Lost At Sea, which was released under the band name Friday Morning's Regret. The band has since wisely changed their name to The Wooden Sky and they are back with a brand new LP entitled If I Don't Come Home You'll Know I'm Gone. Lead singer Gavin Gardner, who was actually my first interview victim here on CO, dials it down a notch on If I Don't Come Home. Where When Lost At Sea moved at a brisk, up-tempo pace, the new album lives in moments of quiet beauty. Take for example the standout track "Something Hiding For Us In The Night," which somehow manages to sound shorter than its five-and-a-half minutes with its hypnotic drums and deftly placed pedal steel guitar. The harmonies on If I Don't Come Home are perhaps the most notable improvement. Whether its the chorus of voices on the jangly "The Late King Henry" or the female backing vocals on the scaled-down "Oslo," you'll find yourself unabashedly singing along. If I Don't Come Home sounds like a band hitting their stride. Hopefully it will bring them the attention they deserve. -- Capt. Obvious