Band of Horses - Infinite Arms Album Review

Band of Horses’ second LP – Cease to Begin – was largely billed as a response to their changing circumstances; the band had left Seattle to settle in South Carolina and the migration spawned a batch of more spacious, Southern Rock infused songs. The glow surrounding Infinite Arms suggests Ben Bridwell's gang found their feet pretty quickly. An uplifting mood is ushered in by the swooning strings of opener Factory and it’s never more dominant than on lead single Compliments – a bouncing, philosophical ditty. The capriciousness continues on Older, and while it’s harsh to suggest the album suffers at the hands of jollity, it's slightly stifled by an overriding sense of reservation and light-heartedness. Evening Kitchen provides a few moments of stark beauty and Laredo could have been lifted from at stellar second album, but tracks like On My Way Back Home embody a comfort-induced coma which suggests Band of Horses might need a little shot of adrenaline.

3/5

Written for The Skinny

Video: Band of Horses: Compliments and Factory, Live on Jools Holland

My Most Listened to Albums of This Year Are...

1. The National - High Violet
2. Deer Tick - War Elephant
3. Clogs - The Creatures in the Garden Of Lady Walton
4. Galaxie 500 - On Fire
5. Band of Horses - Infinite Arms
6. Phosphorescent - Here's To Taking It Easy
7. Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther
8. Townes Van Zandt - Anthology
9. Horse Feathers - Words Are Dead
10. Real Estate - Real Estate

Okay, this is a pretty strange list. I admit, it's also pretty inaccurate. It's aggregated using Last FM and is based on the tracks scrobbled from each album. Thing is, this year I've been listening to a hell of a lot of music on Spotify, not to mention on my mp3 player. Honestly though, The National's new album is undoubtedly the one I've listened to the most. If it were to include everything else, I think you'd find some Jo Newsom, Kath Bloom and David Thomas Broughton.

It would be interesting to hear what other people have been listening to the most?