Artist: The Journals Kept
Title: War Trails
Label / Year: CassetteLand 2017
Though it is high summer, these may be dark times for those
of us who work indoors, in offices, away from the redeeming warmth of the sun. Music
keeps us connected with the threads of humanity within. Threads of shadow, and
threads of hope weave through these 16 tracks, a generous cassette release from
The Journals Kept (Faith & Paul Vittum). The Journals Kept hail from rural
New Hampshire, and in moments the songs and sounds on War Trails seem hedged
in. We’re often unable to see the horizon through the dense forests here in the North, and as
a result we are forced to look inward. These songs are self-reflective in the finest
sense, not mere intellectual exercises, always bordering upon the spiritual sphere of experience.
Musically, War Trails also borders upon
perfection, full of keyboards, crunchy guitars, and exceptional drumming. In an
era where nothing in this world is what it seems, or what it means, we’re able
to delve into our journals and journeys with a creative fire. War Trails is a
soundtrack, and a gift, for our voyages, both internal and external.
Personal Favorite Tracks: Doors of Ireland, Goodbye (great
blue whale), Boys at War, Northern Sounds, Nothing in this world, Keys to the City.
