Maiwah - In Amongst The Ferns Album Preview

Vancouver's Maiwah comes from quite the pedigree. Former members of celebrated dance rock outfit Facts hooked up with singer songwriter Kristie McCraken and combined all their experience crafting perfect pop songs and have created a wonderfully warm and rewarding R&B tinged electronic album. Right off the bat the band immerses you in their world. There is this thick atmosphere that ties the production together. Like the city that has birthed the four piece it feels as if there is a dark raincloud just hovering above each song but one that breaks up letting in the occasional ray of sunlight. This sunlight pokes in through the proceedings and adds a sparkle and a glow to the affair. The album opens with "All The Distance" and a James Blake-esque groove but when the silky voice of McCraken comes in with the line, "Trouble will find me, before it finds you", it immediately becomes it's own thing. The song builds subtlety with the inclusion of live drumming elevating it from sounding like a bedroom based pop project to a more expansive endeavour. 

Produced by the band with Tom Dobrzanski of The Zolas, each track on "In Amongst The Ferns" takes the listener on a real journey.  Everything builds with each bit of added instrumentation and sophisticated rhythm changes. "Familiar Resolve" kicks off with moody synth bass and a muted four on the floor kick drum with McCraken singing, "That's the thing about you, I always give in" and before the live drumming takes off we've already given into her delicate velvety croon. Album centrepiece "Frozen Lake" is a real showcase for McCraken's voice and the wonderful way she creates an immensely hooky vocal melody. More of a slow jam than some of the previous tracks but when the chorus kicks in after its leisurely paced intro and she smoothly belts out the line, "If I was there right in front of you" those aforementioned rays of sunshine push back any dark clouds and really let her light shine. 

Fans of bands like Beach House and the xx will appreciate the dreamy pop that flows through the whole album but to ascribe this collection of songs to a greater musical movement does it a bit of a disservice. There are the definite touchstones of the contemporary alternative pop and r&b scene that Maiwah do touch on here but it's more to contextualize the bands ideas and use them as a jumping off point in making this sound their own. "In Amongst The Ferns" falls in this sweet spot somewhere in between a night in with a new love and night out with all your friends. It is balanced so well that it becomes simultaneously intimate and exciting and a listen that is most definitely worth your time.