willow weeper - beginnings

Willow Weeper

Beginnings
self-released; 2013

3.9 out of 5

By Matt Jensen

Warren Davidson is the sole entity of Willow Weeper. On his recent album entitled Beginnings he creates compositions that have a bit too much meat to be called ambient but certainly veer towards similar tonal atmospheres. He combines electronic elements, with some organic instrumentation like guitars, that usually burst optimistic, invigorating patterns and frequencies that you may be apt to put on during your next house party.

One of the most surprising things to me is that Davidson did everything himself. The mixes sound stellar. However, I did notice that I was adjusting my volume knob quite often during the duration, something a professional mastering job could help with. 

A chill landscape is immediately established on “Time Turns Greens,” which transitions into an exuberant chorus that utilizes female vocals under a combination of instruments. You immediately notice how he has a knack for knowing how to stack different sounds where the whole sounds greater than the sum of its parts. He displays just as much skill on “Skylights” as he did on the first song by merging ethereal guitar with arpeggiated  synths and electronic percussion. “Verbena Folk” was another track that stood out because of the light funk that he introduced. The song reminded me of early 2000’s Out Hud. “Bliss” melds electronic with post-rock style guitar in an attractive way. One of the best moments is halfway through the song when shards of sounds scatter across your speakers. 

Beginnings is good, really good. At 11 songs it feels a bit long but he had enough variety throughout to keep me interested throughout. This is the type of music you need to listen to on a nice pair of headphones with a full glass of wine.

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