Australian project OWLS OF THE SWAMP is the creative vehicle of singer/songwriter Pete Uhlenbruch, an Australian that these days have relocated to Iceland. His first album released under his current moniker, “Smoky Bay”, saw the light of day in 2007. Since then two more albums have appeared. “Atlas” is the most recent of these, and dates back to 2014.
As the creator of the music and the main performer on this album is a self-described singer/songwriter, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that the material is here is rather low key and careful. As a matter of fact all of these compositions are perhaps a tad more low key than can be expected, where words like careful, delicate and frail describe the contents quite nicely. There’s a certain twilight feeling about these compositions too, a spirit of careful melancholy, not unlike the one you’ll feel towards the end of a late summer evening when you feel the coming autumn in the air.
The material is about a bit more than a man and his acoustic guitar however. Layered guitars are used fairly often, with one guitar motif providing a stable, constant presence while the second will provide careful, plucked notes, the lead vocals are often supplemented by soft, careful backing vocals, more often than not by female vocalists, and careful, ethereal keyboard or synthesizer motifs are frequently applied to smooth out the arrangements in an elegant manner, while also providing depth by adding either a darker toned undercurrent or a lighter toned, colder tinge to the proceedings. Occasional use of textured instrument details giving the songs a careful touch of post rock elegance is also a feature used sparingly but effectively.
Creating music of this kind that will appeal beyond a core audience is a balancing act of course, as the songs can’t rely on contrasts or dramatic effects, but rely on creating a mood and atmosphere compelling enough and hypnotic enough to draw the listener into them instead. Personally I find that many of the songs here manage to do just that, by way of subtle details and minor variations, but there are also some instances of material that for me will be given the faint praise of being merely pleasant, nice and compelling songs that are pleasing on the ears but that just don’t engage me on an emotional level. Still, as I’m rather far removed from being among the key audience of an album such as this one I guess that means that for Owls of the Swamp, that should count as a mission rather well accomplished.
All in all this is a fairly successful specimen of the low key, singer/songwriter type of album in my book, with a composer and performer well aware of how material of this nature needs to be flavored with careful, subtle details and variations to maintain tension and interest to strengthen the overall appeal of the material. The key audience for this album a rather obvious one I guess, and those who have a soft spot for delicate, carefully melancholic singer/songwriter albums should take note of this production.
My rating: 72/100
