Waxahatchee
Out In The Storm
Merge Records
Katie Crutchfield’s solo outfit is named after a creek in Alabama and has grown from hastily made bedroom recordings in 2010 to the indie rock dynamo of today. There is a full band on board for the fourth Waxahatchee album, Out In The Storm, as well as live shows, but the project is still firmly in the hands of Crutchfield.
Out In The Storm moves away from the DIY approach that has been the hallmark of previous Waxahatchee releases, with the band going into a studio to record the album. There is extra grunt throughout, but Crutchfield manages to maintain her guile as she documents a recent bust up.
The up-tempo moments like Silver and Never Been Wrong are more propulsive than we have come to expect from Waxahatchee, making the band sound like a female-led Guided By Voices.
There aren’t as many acoustic moments as we’ve come to expect, but when the volume is dropped on A Little More, the warmth and emotion of Crutchfield’s flawed voice comes to the fore, and the brutally honest Recite Remorse hovers above a keyboard drone.
The deluxe version of the album on vinyl has demo versions of the complete album on a bonus platter. With raw drums and down low instrumentation, this version of Out In The Storm is like Christmas for lo-fi fans.
CHRIS HAVERCROFT
