Windy & Carl – Songs for the Broken Hearted

Writing hurtin’ songs is a staple of most musical genres, but few artists come closer than this Michigan husband and wife to imagining the sound of broken hearts from within a busted ventricle. For the better part of two decades Windy Weber and Carl Hultgren have dreamed their way through musical landscapes both barren and lush. Listening to their infinite guitar sound is still like watching water slowly streaming of rocks: shape, colour and movement meld into a unified pulse. On the more skeletal tracks, like “Forever” and “Champion,” Weber’s vocal steps further forward than ever before, allowing a naked vulnerability that serves the album’s theme. “When We Were” ramps up the distortion to Flying Saucer Attack levels then “Snow Covers Everything” showers little icy angels earthward. Though wonderfully resistant to deviation, they continue to discover little cathedrals and caverns in the rabbit hole they inhabit.

Kranky