As we eagerly wait to shed our heavy Winter coats and gracefully embrace the blooming season of Springtime, Ireland's five-piece indie/punk heartthrobs, The Winter Passing brings to the table a new release, titled Scrapbook, that engages listeners with a heart-warming melody in unison with quirky and anxious lyrics that can make the coldest soul grow weak at the knees. Following up from a previous split EP that was released with their fellow friends and tour mates, Forrest, this band definitely embraces the hearts on their sleeve by going above and beyond.
Diving head-first into this release is the song 1990. Though brief and straightforward for an opening track, this introduction into Scrapbook conveys the atmospheric tone of what listeners should expect to hear from the rest of this release. The opening melody of this song graces your ears with a blissful folk-influenced guitar line that compliments with a chorus of "WHOA-OH-OHs" as the drum fills builds up with the leading guitar line. 1990 is a prelude to this album that builds up almost quite similar to the rising sun in the early hours of the morning.
Transitioning from the calming nature of 1990 is an explosive opening from the song Crooks. One interesting characteristic about this band is their pleasant capability of alternating lead vocal positions to engage the listener; making them crave for more and more with each song. Fans of uniquely-quirky bands like Lemuria and Mixtapes would definitely be pleased. Crooks is a song that that conveys the woes feeling inadequate in the small town you grew up in. The melancholy chorus, "It's always raining, even in the summer time/all of my hopes and dreams are washed down the drain", compliments well the upbeat tempo; providing the listener who expresses the same troubles of inadequacy and anxiety with a shoulder to lean on.
As we approach the halfway mark of Scrapbook, the heart of this album definitely revolves around the next blistering tune, Gold Blend Pt. 1. Recently, The Winter Passing revealed this golden track as a single to give eager supporters a sampling taste of more to come. Ironically enough, on their split with Forrest, there is a song called Gold Blend Pt. 2, that draws extremely similar parallels from this single. It is quite a treat to listen to both of those songs back and forth together especially because the single is a complementary prequel for Gold Blend Pt. 2 (as heard on the Forrest split).
Feels Like is the setting sun of this album. Drawing Scrapbook to a close, the band rips the hearts off their sleeves and gives it their all emotionally one last time on this final track. The beginning of this song is crafted with blaring chords and an opening verse ("Yeah, this feels like forever/I'm so tired of being here all by myself/stop acting this way"), that serves as comforting anthem of those who have dealt with being hung up on "the one that got away" or constantly dwelling on "what could've been". After this build up there is pause that transitions into a spontaneous tempo change that circle kicks back to their punk sound. What's incredible about a song like Feels Like is that it gives the listener a little bit of everything by reflecting back on the musical characteristics that have shaped this album from start to finish.
For those relaxing sunny mornings and dreary rainy afternoons or even if you're down in the dumps, The Winter Passing's Scrapbook is an album that you will pick you back up on your feet and make your mind feel at ease. For a fairly new band, these guys is definitely a group that you should keep on your radar.
Tracklist:
1. 1990
2. Crooks
3. Gold Blend Pt. 1
4. Feels Like
Rating:
Written by Ryan McGrath
