Great Northern - Trading Twilight for Daylight

Great Northern
Trading Twilight for Daylight

Boy, I’d been meaning to make a post about Great Northern for quite awhile now after getting their latest album “Trading Twilight for Daylight”. The CD’s been on my favorites list in Itunes for quite awhile now, but as with all things with Palebear it’s just taken so long to write them up. I’m pretty sure they’ve gotten their fair share of good press though, so this entry is nothing more than a footnote about their music.

Hailing from the famous Ship collective in my neck of the woods (Grandaddy and Earlimar count themselves as members of that collective), they make some of the greatest dreamrock that I’ve heard since the Delgados. And actually, the first track “Our Bleeding Hearts” was SO like the Delgados that I did a double take. I think it was the delicate bells in the background, the dreamy atmosphere that slowly lopes along like a wolf, and the great vocals from Rachel Stolte.

Their dramatic songs definitely reminds me a bit of other Silverlake bands like Giant Drag and Silversun Pickups. I also felt a little Viva Voce sneaking in there perhaps. The structure of other songs like “Telling Lies” sound like they were written by Aaron Espinoza or Elliott Smith. The hits on the album are pretty much non-stop, at least I felt that way. They put together some really amazing music in this album that’s all about setting up a distinct dreamy mood - it’s like swimming through songs. Really great stuff - I don’t think the album is officially out yet, I believe mid-May is when you should be able to get your hands on it.

Listen:
The Middle
Great Northern on Myspace

Watch:
Great Northern SXSW 2007
Great Northern playing “Babies” live at Liquid Generation

Visit:
Great Northern website

by Palebear