Music always has a voice of its own, one that is separate yet complementary to the words it carries. And that is certainly true of The Levins‘ latest album. Before you even consider what is being said here via the lyrics, there is something evocative found in the music itself: a voice of its own that speaks of drifting Laurel Canyon days, hazy folkscapes, and Summer of Love vibes. As it does so, it opens a window on an era of hope, but also a troubled one.
But An Alternate Refrain is not an exercise in nostalgia, and by gently drawing those seductive sounds through the filter of more modern songwriting and smart production, we are faced with an album that spans eras, and whose end points share the same conflicted blend of darkness and light, and so the music that The Levins make builds a bridge between the then and the now on the musical timeline.
The opener, “Morning is A Mercy,” perfectly exemplifies this duality. A blend of finessed and sumptuous folk, one that celebrates the possibilities of what a new day might bring, perhaps the challenges too. And that, in a nutshell, gets to the heart of what this album is about. It is a set of songs about courage and optimism, vulnerability and self-reflection, compassion and, ultimately, love.
At its most understated, we find “Knowing When,” a beautiful, piano-led piece whose spaciousness acts as the perfect frame for the duo’s compelling vocal harmonies, and whose wandering violin occasionally acts as a distant third voice.
At the other end of the spectrum, “Honest Smile” picks up the pace and heads into a deft and delicate yet infectiously gentle grooving indie haze. The songs are, of course, great, and it feels unfair to focus on the vocals when the music is so sublime, but I have to say that it is the blend of voices, the rich tapestry of vocals, that is the thing you remember most vividly long after the last note of the album has drifted off.
The connection between those earlier echoes heard in the song and its more contemporary moves is palpable, for not only do the lyrics remind us that some battles are never won, that it is about the journey, not the destination, but musically, fifty years drops away, uniting us with earlier sonic activists similarly seeking a better world.
