A guaranteed way to stumble upon great new music has always been/forever will be to stick tight to your favorite bands/artists. That's how I discovered the indie orchestral pop collective Floating Compass. The brainchild of Tim Cronin, a member of the Camera Obscura live band and featured trumpeter on Freelance Whales Diluvia, Floating Compass' Tales of Yesteryear presents a distinctive brand of medieval flavored chamber pop that could very well inhabit the same realm as Joanna Newsom's Ys or Have One on Me.
Ironically their embrace of the past sets Floating Compass on an innovative level apart from the band's contemporaries. Using accordion and trumpet in a decidedly different way than their most well known advocate Beirut, Floating Compass' use of them seeks not to wisp you to the shores of the Mediterranean but a far bolder task of throwing you back in time transporting you to crowded cobblestone streets a stone's throw from the crisp sea air and the nearest lighthouse.
With tracks like "Cathedral", "Buoys" and "Pendulum" that features recordings of the songs namesakes - church bells and the like, the thing that keeps Tales of Yesteryear and its various experimentations from being contrived or too on the nose is pure commitment. That and the songs actually being good. You can't argue a field recording's hokeyness when it inspires an enjoyable song, or a cohesive album. I mean you certainly can semantically but I know I sure won't.
You can stream Floating Compass' debut album Tales of Yesteryear now.
A music blog dedicated to my ever-expanding tastes. A musical journey with endless pitstops along the way. Bringing you the best of what I see and hear.
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