The Agency
In The Haunted Woods
Self-Release
A Musical Jigsaw Full of Golden Melancholia and Dark Dreams.
First and foremost Singer/guitarist Steven K Driver is an occasional reviewer at RMHQ; but fear not ……… if this album had been crap I would have just ignored and pretended the postman hadn’t delivered it.
(Not for the first time either!)
But; just like their previous release OF GHOSTS, it’s the opposite of crap ……..it’s generally quite excellent in a Nick Cave meets The Handsome Family in a deserted fairground (or haunted forest) kind of way.
If that synopsis doesn’t appeal, feel free to turn away now …… but if it does; you’re in for a deep, dark and gloomy treat.
Opening track Numb, sets the scene perfectly well part droll, part introspective and part multi-layered Northern Gothic …… and I love it.
The mood picks up on track #2 Defender; a single which has picked up numerous plays in August on various Indie Radio stations; and you can easily tell why. OK it’s certainly not Taylor Swift or McFly ‘commercial’ but if your tastes are left of centre, the modern jazz spine should appeal to you.
For a band that never actually tours (they all have proper jobs and do this for ‘love’) The Agency have evolved a distinctive ‘sound’ with every part being absolutely essential to the final product (which might come from spending more hours ‘jamming’ than Coldplay and U2 combined! Ed.)
While all of that ‘practicing’ certainly pays off on individual songs; the divine Abigail and Diplomacy spring to mind; but first and foremost this is an old fashioned Long Player that demands your attention from start to finish; with each individual song/story building a beautifully complex life of its own.
Perhaps it’s the rich and slow way Driver croons, rather than sings that gives songs like The Affluent and Diplomacy a poetic feel; you know the type of thing Jim Morrison fans think he invented? Well Steven does that in a similar way; but perhaps a bit more authentically?
The finale is something of a surprise, as it starts with a lonely singer poring over lost love then gradually the band lend a series of post-Americana flourishes to the chorus ……… different – certainly; fascinating too; but a direction I’d love to hear more of.
Then; as is my won’t I must choose a Favourite Song, which isn’t easy as all of the constituent parts fit together like a musical jigsaw; but two songs have caught my attention in the last two days; when I was listening alone late at night (which I heartily recommend btw) ……. even the title To Fumble is Divine would normally have been enough to catch my attention; but I’d already fell in love with it before I knew what it was called; so this 4 minutes of golden melancholia must be special; mustn’t it? Well …. yes, it is.
The other’ and the one that claims the title is Summer Town; which sounds like it should be the soundtrack to a slasher movie called In The Haunted Woods!
Driver’s windswept and sorrowful voice aligned to a gentle melody draws you in to a very dark and almost Gothic tale; that to some extent is the cornerstone that the whole album revolves around.
There you have it; an album from the North East’s best kept musical secret; and an album that will age better than a vintage red wine ….. ladies and gentlemen; I give you The Agency; thank me later.
Released August 28th 2020
https://theagencyinthehauntedwoods.com/
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