I suppose it had to happen eventually and even I would have to admit that the trend for Americana finally seems to have produced something of merit. Canadian band Oh My Darling sound conventional throughout their album “Sweet Nostalgia” but all is not as ordinary as the surface impression would suggest.
Taking “Cage Bird” as an example, this song is less poetic revivalism than a reflection on the unsatisfying urban life and even the traditional song “Roustabout” is imbued with new depth by this band with the time honoured sentiments normally drawn from this song replaced with something altogether more subversive. That’s a smart move in my opinion as it will allow the spiritually dead – the usual audience for Americana – to unbutton their designer cardigans whilst allowing those seeking more to find it.
The musical skills of this band are in no doubt either with a truly eloquent style evidenced in the instrumental “”Mister Guy”. However, the real treasures are to found in the words and the deliciously pseudo Nashville “Love Me Love Me Not” and the simply beautiful “All The Sweetness” provide more than adequate proof of that. “Sweet Nostalgia” is the best of both worlds – it sounds conventional to undemanding ears yet beneath that very conventionality is both intelligence and soul.