King’s Daughters & Sons hail from a far off land called Louisville, Kentucky. The band are something of a Louisville supergroup, with members coming from local bands The Shipping News, The For Carnation and Rachel’s. Post-rockfeatures heavily in the members other bands, so it’s not a stretch to imagine that If Then Not When may wander down this path at some point.

The album opens in a fairly low key, broody manner with The Sleeping Colony. There’s a sense of barely restrained energy throughout, with the songs intensity building as it progresses. So far the post-rock boxes are being ticked. Vocally, it’s pretty special too, almost spoken word at times but when Rachel Grimes adds her voice, it’s great. It’s a lengthy opener at around seven minutes long, but it’s never dull.

There are no three minute pop songs here. Most songs start around the four and a half minute mark and head north of there. The post-rock is referenced, but not copied. Songs like Arc of the Absentees are deceptively simple, but compelling. One of the features of the album is the vocals. Every member chips in, but it’s mainly Joe Manning and Rachel Grimes. Individually they are excellent, but together they are spectacular.

It’s not all nods to the bands post-rock origins though, The Anniversary has a folk feel to it thanks to the guitar and hushed vocal style. With the addition of piano and the more traditional bass, guitar and drums the tempo increases, moving away from the initial lo-fi feel. Again though, it’s a lengthy number at around eight minutes, it’s always engaging.

There are some moments that evoke Radiohead and Neil Young, particularly A Storm Kept Them Away and Volunteer. The former is an instrumental track that begins like something from OK Computer before veering off into it’s own sound, while the latter is another that starts low key before the band give it some body and it ends with you feeling you’ve heard vintage Neil Young.

Lorelei is one track that starts and ends pretty low key, while closer Open Sky opens with a vocal duet and no music. As elsewhere on the record, the two vocalists are sublime and play off each other beautifully. The rhythm section is prominent and the piano features again. The tempo picks up a couple of minutes in thanks to a sparkling guitar that becomes the main focus of the track. It’s great stuff.

Overall, this is a very good album, it’s a very enjoyable listening experience. It’s not filled with traditional three minute indie tracks, rather five, six, seven minute tracks of complex beauty. The vocals are excellent and when the male/female dynamic is used they take on a whole new dimension. This is definitely one of the most enjoyable albums I’ve heard in months and I suggest you have a listen too.

Steve Mcgillivray