Location:
USA, CA

Category:
Roots / Folk

Try if you like:
Joanna Newsom, Pernice Brothers, Scud Mountain Boys, Sufjan Stevens

•   Been So Long

In case you've never heard Vetiver, you absolutely need to track down their self-titled album. Vetiver is the project of one Andy Cabic and has been known to include freak-folk master Devendra Banhart. The debut album was just everything firing right. Songwriting was perfect, instruments were impeccable... 

That is why it's taken so long for me to review their full-length follow-up. To Find Me Gone was released in 2006 and while comparable to their debut, it pales just slightly. This album lacks the diversity and energy that Vetiver is capable of. That being said, it just takes a little longer to get into tracks like "No One World". They meander a little more than past songs. It starts to take on something Calexico would be comfortable doing. Moving more away from the freak folk sound (which was arguable on their debut) into more of a soft-rock, country/folk sound. "Idle Times" could be a Byrds out-take.

To Find Me Gone is a great follow-up, but if you are just getting into the roots side of things, try out Vetiver's self-titled debut. It is simply outstanding.