The Felice Brothers Deliver Polished, Uplifting Harmonies On ‘Life in the Dark’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

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13450900_10154110955386628_6684513213705585608_nEvery Felice Brothers album has its own particular distinction, but Life in the Dark may have the most significant one in their ten-year history: all the material was composed by lead vocalist & guitarist Ian Felice. The result of this single-minded approach is an album as memorable as its predecessor, 2014’s stellar Favorite Waitress, if not more so.

The combination of accordion from James Felice and fiddle from Greg Farley that introduces “Aerosol Ball,” leads seductively to the images Ian delivers in droll vocal, the cracked whimsy of which camouflages an underlying current of social commentary. The arch topicality continues on “Jack in the Asylum” and, as on the preceding track, the sentiment carried in the refrain wouldn’t mean much if it weren’t carried so artfully via the boozy waltz driven by acoustic guitar and punchy drums from now-departed drummer Dave Estabrook.

That cut’s notable too for the recorded sound of the album. Thanks to James Felice’s engineering and long-time collaborator Jeremy Backofen’s mixing, the separation of instruments is all the more remarkable as the band recorded it live, playing together in a garage turned studio. During “Triumph ’73,” the electric guitar strings ring slowly against bittersweet mandolin (again courtesy of Farley) demonstrating how the space left in the sound as important an element as the actual instruments in the arrangement.

The ominous air of that song’s narrative sounds all that much more foreboding when the modified blues of “Plunder” explodes next, its chorus an ode to joy if there ever was one. Yet, the whole track captures the casual immediacy of the Felice Brothers at their best on stage, as does the mostly instrumental “Sally” where the quintet condenses the uproarious mood of its antecedent, Reverend Gary Davis’ “Sally Where’d You Get Your Liquor From.” In “Diamond Bell,” Ian’s character depiction is as vivid as the musicianship is loose, but that very contrast makes the number work.

Few songs on Life in the Dark lack a dark undercurrent, but it’s deepest below the surface on “Dancing on the Wing,” a gleeful tale of romantic reprisal where the bassist Josh Rawson’s break accentuates the sly, vengeful mood. The doleful piano at the heart of “Sell the House,” however, has the reverse effect such a downbeat number might create in closing a record: the song itself and the Felice Brothers’ sparse accompaniment is so true-to-life and unaffected, it’s  impossible not to want to hear more.

So the quintet sneaks in an addition to the nine cuts listed, a hidden track on which the Felice Brothers’ harmony singing is as polished as they ever get. The uplifting quality in the group singing becomes a buoy to the fragility of Ian’s voice and makes a most fitting conclusion to a record that thrives on its own contradictions.

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Photo by Austin Nelson Photography

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