It is a brave musician that opens his debut album with a nine minute epic, but the soft, slow stormy heartbreak that is Seafarer’s Lament that sets the stage for The Whiskey Priest’s Wave and Cloud. But this isn’t a record of sadness, with If I Was A Train chugging along to a more upbeat rhythm as Seth Woods moves on, moves forward – allowing greater scope for the rest of the album. In all, Wave and Cloud is a simple, beautiful and understated folk record that sparkles with little rays of country throughout.

Winter Window is a personal favourite on the record with its ghostly sound chimes, whistles and layers into something altogther more fulfilling. Not everything on offer here is so constructuvely arranged though, with Winter Secret Army Blod a more accesible folk-pop ballad – but even there a violin solo reminds you that this record is so much more than that and the simple repetitive song structures here, as elsewhere on the record, are what makes it feel so familiar and yet still manages to evoke feelings fascination and wonder.

The first recordings for Wave and Cloud were recorded on a four-track in a downtown church attic in Austin, Texas by Seth and a handful of friends, and was released on Rainboot on 23rd August.

The Whiskey Priest – Winter Window

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