The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureMusicAlbum reviews

Darlingside – Fish Pond Fish

Darlingside – Fish Pond Fish | Album review
9 October 2020
Georgie Cowan-Turner
Avatar
Georgie Cowan-Turner
9 October 2020

Music review

Georgie Cowan-Turner

Fish Pond Fish

★★★★★

Release date

9th October 2020

Highlights

Ocean Bed, Green+ Evergreen, Crystal Craving

Links

Twitter Facebook Instagram Soundcloud Website

Boston-based indie folk four-piece Darlingside could never have expected 2020. In late 2019, the group began working on Fish Pond Fish while staying at the residential studio of Grammy-winning producer Peter Katis (Interpol, The National). Band members Dave Senft (vocals, bass), Don Mitchell (vocals, guitar, banjo), Auyon Mukharji (vocals, violin, mandolin), and Harris Paseltiner (vocals, cello, guitar) wanted to return to their roots and the early days of the ensemble, when they had lived and written music together. As the pandemic struck, they were forced to isolate, meaning the album consists of a mixture of songs created in the studio in highly intimate, collaborative conditions and the anthesis: tracks produced in self-isolation. It is testament to their skill that it is impossible to tell which numbers fall into which category, and the record has a seamless, dreamlike quality.

Darlingside’s tender instrumental arrangements and evocative harmonies work perfectly in the collection. Each song offers an ode to nature, whether it be taking the listener into the “churned up” depths of the sea in Ocean Bed, or gazing into the leaves of a forest canopy in Green+ Evergreen, watching as “the lemon light was alkalining”. For those new to the band or perhaps less inclined to folk, both of these tracks, along with Crystal Caving, could be the place to start, with their catchy indie-pop feel. A Light on in the Dark embodies the group’s distinctive style, while Time Will Be could easily be adopted as an anthem for present times. All the lyrics have a visionary, poetic quality, with exquisite harmonies adding a depth – and at times, pangs of melancholy – to the music. It is an album to lose yourself in.

Darlingside have created a record which offers a catharsis and gentle positivity perfect for the current climate. The numbers are consistently excellent and when listened to in its entirety, the compilation feels like a discovery; either of the natural world or of a sense of calm and contemplation missing in our lives. This release, which could not have come at a better time, is arguably the band’s best work to date.

★★★★★

Georgie Cowan-Turner
Photo: Robb Stey

Fish Pond Fish is released on 9th October 2020. For further information or to order the album visit Darlingside’s website here.

Watch the video for Green + Evergreen here:

Related Itemsfeaturedreview

More in Album reviews

Lykke Li – EYEYE

★★★★★
Georgia Howlett
Read More

Florence and the Machine – Dance Fever

★★★★★
Ronan Fawsitt
Read More

Warpaint – Radiate Like This

★★★★★
Catherine Sedgwick
Read More

Arcade Fire – We

★★★★★
Ronan Fawsitt
Read More

Blossoms – Ribbon Around the Bomb

★★★★★
Georgia Howlett
Read More

Memorial – Memorial

★★★★★
Mae Trumata
Read More

Fontaines DC – Skinty Fia

★★★★★
Jasper Watkins
Read More

Girlpool – Forgiveness

★★★★★
Charlie Peters
Read More

Patrick Watson – Better in the Shade

★★★★★
Catherine Sedgwick
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Music review

Georgie Cowan-Turner

Fish Pond Fish

★★★★★

Release date

9th October 2020

Highlights

Ocean Bed, Green+ Evergreen, Crystal Craving

Links

Twitter Facebook Instagram Soundcloud Website

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • My Fair Lady at the London Coliseum
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • The Father and the Assassin at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Plan 75
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • More than Ever (Plus que Jamais)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Warpaint at the Roundhouse
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Domingo and the Mist (Domingo y la Niebla)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Tori and Lokita
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Moonage Daydream
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Stephen Fry enters the Radio Times Hall of Fame in conversation with Alan Yentob at the BFI Imax
    Cinema & Tv
  • Layering masters: How to make authentically delicious lasagne
    Food & Drinks
  • Moonage Daydream
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Crimes of the Future
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Decision to Leave (Heojil Kyolshim)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • Boy from Heaven (Walad Min Al Janna)
    ★★★★★
    Cannes
  • The Princess of Shoreditch in Shoreditch: “Ruth Hansom will only cook with the freshest and finest”
    Food & Drinks
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Adding Machine: A Musical at Finborough Theatre Online | Theatre review
Lockdown Town at One Night Records | Theatre review