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Woods’ sixth studio album, With Light and With Love, is an amalgamation of every imaginable sound a folk band is capable of conveying. Based out of Brooklyn, Woods has built a reputation around its ability to consistently produce well-crafted albums time and time again. Founded in 2005, Woods released its first full-length album, At Rear House, in 2007 and has not looked back since. With Light and With Love is merely the next step in the band’s growth. Woods’ latest endeavor, consisting of a combination of prototypical folk rock and experimental tracks, is capable of both lulling and invigorating listeners. Each song is a new experience that screams out its own tale, and With Light And With Love deserves a good listening session to be fully enjoyed.
One of the more impressive components of Woods is its ability to produce quality albums on an almost yearly basis, while managing other undertakings. Woods founder, singer, and guitarist Jeremy Earl runs his own music label, Woodsist, when he’s not recording (or maybe it is the other way around). Although mainly used to release Woods’ own music, Woodsist did release both Real Estate and Kurt Vile’s debut albums. The upcoming Woodsist Festival in August is taking advantage of some of these old ties and headlined by Real Estate and Woods themselves.
Even between balancing the Woodsist label and festival, Earl’s band excels on With Light And With Love. Woods masterfully creates a symphony of varying styles of folk. These disparate sounds are thrown into an album that flows from song to song despite each song’s differences. The intro song, “Shepherd,” is the perfect example of easy-listening folk. The calm and gentle guitar, the sparingly yet well-used tambourine, the light and playful piano, and Earl’s ethereal falsetto all combine to create a thoroughly relaxing experience. “Shepherd” is exactly what anyone would expect from a typical folk song, but it is executed marvelously.
Woods’ title song “With Light and With Love” sounds like an uncoordinated but planned-out jam session. Reaching just over nine minutes, the track captures all that Woods embodies. Between the many riveting guitar solos that define “With Light and With Love” there exists an uplifting message that is powerful despite its vagueness. The song is built around Earl’s outcry “Don’t know what to do.” At first it seems as if the phrase is one of panic, and the early guitar complements this feeling.
However, “With Light and With Love” entirely shifts at the five-minute mark, when the most chaotic, out-of-control solo is interrupted by a moment of serenity. All of the frenetic energy of the song is temporarily taken away. The listener is left with an atmospheric, wavy synth that resets the mood. What follows is a series of lighter and more organized solos that invoke a sense of freedom. When Earl comes back in exclaiming “Don’t know what to do,” it is no longer a phrase of despair. Rather, the track celebrates going with the flow and enjoying life as it unfolds in unexpected ways.
Both “Moving To The Left” and “Leaves Like Glass” exemplify the best of Woods when the band incorporates a bit of funk into its classic folk sound. “Moving to the Left” utilizes a haunting synth as well as distorted vocals to create a spooky campfire vibe. The synth is combined with a definitively plucky guitar that seemingly jabbers at listeners, and the more common ooh’s and aah’s of folk bands the track are a highlight of With Light And With Love. “Leaves Like Glass,” on the other hand, utilizes a funky electric guitar and organ to create a groovy song that I will love to hear on the way to the beach this summer.
If you’re in Big Sur this summer and can make it to the Woodsist Festival, definitely be sure to check out Woods on April 5 to hear the eccentric folk of With Light and With Love live.