But in between, there’s you and me

Alone – Trampled By Turtles

Contemplative, heartfelt music with a strong folk influence has, out of nowhere, turned into one of the big trends of the last few years. You have your Mumford & Sons, your Lumineers, and so forth. If you want to dig back a little further you can pick up The Avett Brothers and all their ilk.

My general happiness with such music tends to run headfirst into my general distrust for these little pop boomlets. But on the whole, I’m happy to see this sort of thing do well. If only because it means that bands who have been doing this sort of thing for a while will get some deserved attention.

Today’s example: Trampled By Turtles, who have been around for about a decade but somehow completely flew under my radar. I’m just now picking up last year’s Stars and Satellites, which is lovely. It’s got a strong bluegrass vibe, with just enough polish to give it some extra layers of comfort. This is not an album to push me into rhapsodic praise – but it’s very much an album to spend a lovely afternoon with. And sometimes that’s exactly what you need.