Indie-Folk: everything I hate, rolled into something brilliant.

 

There’s not a lot I like about the recent folk resurgence, but what I do like is artist appropriating that sound into something good. This is where Everything, the latest single by Cavalry, comes in. It’s a great blend of folk’s precision picking and indie’s tendency to elongate every feasible sound and allow it to glide into infinity.

So, what Cavalry has really done is blend my two most hated musical styles of the moment (folk and the elongated swirls of shoegaze) into something good. It’s no fluke, either. The structure of Everything is perfect, building from an ambient instrumental ringing to gentle guitar picks, and then picking up both into elevated levels of intensity. By the time the track draws to a close, the anthemic vocal roars and sweeping guitars are a far cry from the gentle opening – and the journey is enjoyable at every step. Even better than the expansive sounds is that the vocals are delivered in a sultry way that creates a feeling of closeness and intimacy – even as the guitars soar across distant musical landscapes.

What a strange combination of brilliant things.