Noah and the Whale – The First Days Of Spring

Where we last left the British folk band, Noah And The Whale, I had noted that this band was very new, based on the fact that their name was taken from the 2005 film, Noah Baumbach’s The Squid and the Whale. I also felt that their songwriters are based on things in life: love, happiness, and death.

So let’s catch up to see how far they’ve come since that Saturn car commercial. Since their release of their debut album, Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down,
after a string of hit singles. The band found themselves doing all the
festival gigs (Leeds, Glasto, V), which probably help boost their
record to #5 on the UK album charts. Let’s just put it this way, 2008’s
been a fantastic year for Noah and the Whale.

Unfortunately, their promotional push did not carry over to the states when they released this announcement:

It is with no little remorse and disappointment that we are
compelled to cancel these dates. These words are being typed in the
studio as we make progress on the next Noah and the Whale album.

Instead, the band headed back into the studio to work on their sophomore, (appropriately at the time) named The First Days of Spring. Which really brings us to the album being officially release in the US, this Tuesday, October 6^th on Cherrytree Records. I got a chance to listen to the album over the weekend in my car.

Immediately, you’ll notice the first thing that free download song,
“The First Days Of Spring”, brings in a sense of wide open space. The
lyrics sounds more like reading a book, trying to describe this feeling
of nature and life.

The spring song is followed by “Our Window”, with the same nature
theme, about looking at the stars through a window. This is such a
departure from their themes from the first album. Another departure
seems to be in the backup singers department – there are not any on the
new album.

I thought I read somewhere that The First Days Of Spring
is “more electric”, I don’t really think is the case. There are
electric guitars, as heard on such song as “My Broken Heart”, but I
wouldn’t exactly put this against any rock album. This is a folky album, especially with some acoustics and fiddles andsuch mild and gentle vocals. In fact, what rock
album features a very nice instrumental break?

The most upbeat (and possibly will make a great single), is
“Love Of An Orchestra”. It doesn’t sound anything like the rest of the
album, but I think that’s why people might be drawn to the song.

Personally, I think the band’s grown in the short time they’ve been
together. It should be interesting to see where they band is at, in
say, “five years time“.

PS, just prior to the album’s release in the UK, drummer and brother
Doug Fink, announced that he will be leaving the band to pursue a
career in medicine. Good for him. I suspect if the music-thing doesn’t
work out for, Charlie Fink, he can always pursue film, as he’s made the
film version of “The First Days Of Spring”. If you were thinking it’s a
documentary or maybe a “live” concert, it’s not, it looks vibrant and
artsy. You can check out the trailer on vimeo yourself.

I believe the film is made available on DVD on the first limited pressing of The First Days of Spring, which is selling for only $10 on amazon (or $12 on insound.com).