Raising The Fawn The North Sea (Sonic Unyon) Rating: NNN
Rating: NNN
The North Sea (out February 24) is the document of a band that no longer exists. Recorded almost two years ago, the disc lay dormant while former Fawns Julie Booth and Jon Drew jumped ship. The remaining members (who describe the disc as “a moth-eaten sweater” they can’t bear to get rid of) have since released a great EP, and this full-length feels like a regression. Still, some of the tracks are standouts. On opener The News, Booth’s sighing vocals become an instrumental element, forming gauzy walls around which the rest of the song creeps up. The broken country of July 23, with its gently insistent chorus, sticks in your head, and the bouncy Gwendolyn sounds like a response to Broken Social Scene’s Stars & Sons.
Raising the Fawn open for the Wrens at the Horseshoe Saturday (February 7).
