Widowspeak
Artist: Widowspeak
Title: Expect the Best
Release Date: August 25, 2017
Label: Captured Tracks
Widowspeak returns with Expect the Best, their first release since 2015.
Expect the Best reaches out with a warm hand and invites listeners into a hazy land. Its guard is down, and the treble of the dissonant guitars is up. Lyricist Molly Hamilton’s voice creates a sense of no judgement as she croons about failing and being not motivated in life. Hamilton knows she’s not always a winner, and her words remind listeners that we all can’t always triumph, but it’s going to be okay.
The arrangement of tracks on Expect the Best creates an untroubled feel to the album that adhere to Hamilton’s lyrics. The third track, “Dog,” pleasantly sways in the chorus with Hamilton insisting “I wanna stay, I wanna stay, I wanna stay.” The words have a great pop hook in an album that walks between melancholy and peace.
The soundscape of Expect the Best is grungy, but with a light dusting of psychedelic feels. The guitars drive the rhythm and carry the melody, while lush strings in the opening track “The Dream” lifts the atmosphere into a pleasant place of no distractions. Hamilton seems to be looking for that same place, and makes it clear when she calmly sings “…thought about leaving but for real this time.” Reflective and meditative, Hamilton stands at a station in her life with a purpose of progressing but unsure if her past decisions were the best.
Expect the Best stays away from rough edges, instead it leans towards a warm cup of chamomile in seek of consolation.
Catch Widowspeak playing Sept 29th with Clearance and Soft Lions at Space Bar.