Artists
Album Info
Release Date: 2014-09-01Label: Undertow Music Collective
“The Hill Or The Climb” is Magnolia Summer’s self-described “rock” album which finds the band working from a “return to basics” approach to recording. Songwriter Chris Grabau and his crew of St. Louis-based musicians focused on recording live as a four-piece rock band with limited time and overdubs. The result is their most straightforward-sounding batch of recordings to date. Pedal steel and string arrangements found on previous releases have been replaced by John Horton’s dynamic and anthemic guitar work.A central theme of the album is Grabau’s ruminations to find footing amongst a landscape of missed opportunities, conciliations, and daily routines. However, nestled within Grabau’s seemingly wry observations is a reflection on the process of being human. Just as Albert Camus asserts “One must think of Sisyphus as happy” Grabau’s lyrics strive to convey how decline and dissent are essential and welcomed parts of the human experience.
“The Hill Or The Climb” is Magnolia Summer’s self-described “rock” album which finds the band working from a “return to basics” approach to recording. Songwriter Chris Grabau and his crew of St. Louis-based musicians focused on recording live as a four-piece rock band with limited time and overdubs. The result is their most straightforward-sounding batch of recordings to date. Pedal steel and string arrangements found on previous releases have been replaced by John Horton’s dynamic and anthemic guitar work.
A central theme of the album is Grabau’s ruminations to find footing amongst a landscape of missed opportunities, conciliations, and daily routines. However, nestled within Grabau’s seemingly wry observations is a reflection on the process of being human. Just as Albert Camus asserts “One must think of Sisyphus as happy” Grabau’s lyrics strive to convey how decline and dissent are essential and welcomed parts of the human experience.