NTTR - No Time to Review

I think It’s a Dying Art is a good album, mostly because Little Big Town still know how to make very polished country sound warm and human. The harmonies are obviously the main strength. Sucker for a Sad Song works immediately, and Ashley Monroe blends naturally with the group. The Door is another highlight because the restrained arrangement gives the vocals and Jason Isbell’s guitar enough space to breathe. I also like Hey There Sunshine and The Idea . Both songs are emotionally direct without becoming too sentimental, while Crickets is probably the track I would return to first because the bluesier groove finally gives the album some real movement. My main problem is still the pacing. Too many songs sit in the same relaxed, melancholic mid-tempo space, and after a while the individual melodies become harder to separate. The performances remain excellent, but I sometimes remember the vocal blend more clearly than the songs themselves. The final section improves things. Closin...

I think Till Glömskan Ad Oblivionem is a solid album, but I don't think the songwriting is consistently strong enough to make it more than that. Lea Amling Alazam is easily the main reason it works for me. Her voice gives the music much more personality than the usual stoner/doom formula, especially on Drifters on a Quiet Stream , where the slower pace and piano create a genuinely different emotional space. Accelerating Hearts is another highlight because the groove is immediate and the duet adds some useful contrast. I also like Oblivion as a closing track, which brings back the darker, more melancholic side of the album without simply repeating the heavier songs. The problem is that quite a lot of the record blends together. The guitar tones are good, the production is warm and the riffs are consistently competent, but too many tracks occupy the same space between fuzzy hard rock, doom and melancholy. I also don't think the hooks are as memorable as they initially seem...