I won't write too much on the Case Conrad album 'A Tightrope Wish', as we did cover the pre-album single release and the aim of that was to point people in the direction of the album. But the album's been with us for a couple of weeks, and I've really enjoyed listening to it, so thought I would add just a few reflections. It's also been gratifying to see Case Conrad mentioned in a couple of other places, most noticeably on one of the excellent 'Fresh On The Net' lists - an amazing source of new music worldwide, and normally a good indication that people like what they're hearing.
To remind everyone 'Case Conrad' are a band which take on wide influences, I'd suggest from Folk / Indie / Americana genres, and the band is based between between Sweden and Spain. Vocally the tracks are also split between the 2 songwriters Per Henrik Adolfsson and Gustav Haggren, and this never causes an issue when listening as the album maintains a sense of continuity and consistency throughout - in fact I barely noticed until I sat down to review the album in more detail.
After a really good opening track 'Heavy Metal Bars' which we've always covered in the previous feature, we're offered a lovely track 'The Swim', undoubtedly a real highlight, with a great lilting melody and the soft gravelly vocals work really well. 'Alley Lee' feels more melancholy, but the pace is raised with the upbeat rhythms in 'God Oh My', and in general it's the lovely overall band instrumentation that creates the feeling of warmth in the music. And whilst there is probably greater strength in some of the earlier tracks on the album, actually I really like 'Fools', mainly because of the expressive vocals and lyrics, which probably are worthy of further exploration in their own right.
Similarly to our other featured artist today, Select Captain, I feel very comfortable in the world of Case Conrad. Their songs are flowing, melodic and well written, and there is a softness and distinctness in both of the vocals which I find easy to listen to - not to the extent of someone like the amazing and much missed Gavin Clark, but I was reminded of him on more than one occasion when listening. And with me listening to way too much overly sad and melancholy music, Case Conrad songs mostly have a positive edge to them too, which makes 'A Tightrope Wish' perfect for me right now. This is an album which I will continue to listen to, and I hope you will all give it a try too.
Nordic Music Review 8/10
"A Tightrope Wish", was released October 14 on Stargazer Records and This Is Forte.