This is the debut release from Harvest Rain, a group from South Carolina on a French label. The cd comes in a cardboard box, accompanied by a A5 booklet with all the lyrics, photos and credits. Most music and words of this mcd were written by Jason Thompkins, other bandmembers are Jamey Thompkins and Christopher Mehl. They were aided by several other musicians, including Matt Howden, whose violin plays an important role in the first song, ‘Southern Cross’.
I think this song is the highlight of this cd. Not just because of Matt’s violin, it has a great melody and a nice atmosphere, although the lyrics are rather grim. It really has a ‘southern’ atmosphere, you can almost see the ‘autumn landscapes’ of South Carolina, where the songs were recorded. Another highlight is ‘Light and Ice’, a mostly instrumental piece with fine acoustic guitar work and nice keyboard sounds in the background. Harvest Rain makes good neo-folk music with a melancholic undertone. This mcd is a nice taster of (hopefully many) things to come…
