From the opening notes of "Where the Light Gets Lost" it's easy to hear the route that
Charles Watson and Rebecca Taylor have taken this time around. In contrast to the retro-soul with modern polish of Complete Surrender -- a style more suited to Taylor's heart-on-sleeve songwriting --
One Day All of This Won't Matter was recorded utilizing a full band. The organic, earthy rumble of
Matthew E. White's production style and in-house band results in a heartfelt jam session. Where the more overt hooks are missing, they're replaced with an amicable atmosphere, albeit one that risks sounding defeated in places.
There's a subtle tragedy underlining the tonal changes in
Slow Club's output that, if anything, benefits the record greatly. Initially, Watson and Taylor released two twee folk/indie albums,
Yeah, So? and
Paradise, marking a time when both songwriters were more or less in synch. Complete Surrender, however, saw Taylor developing her stance as a soul who bears all. Some were deterred by the shift away from Watson's storyteller approach, but ultimately the record was more accomplished than the first two.
One Day finds the duo at a point in their lives where working together is becoming more of a strain, if only because they lead different lives in different parts of the U.K.
It turns out
Matthew E. White -- and his studio in Richmond, Virginia -- was the glue needed to bring them together, allowing them to forget the individual directions pulling at them and instead bring both sets of ideas before the in-house band for a cohesive compromise. To call it a struggle isn't to undermine the process, sometimes it's just a fact of life. The real praise comes from how that struggle -- the of a result of an identity crises -- comes with change and growth, and is reflected so well through the music. The album yearns in the right places and laments where it should, but it also communicates an easygoing understanding of change. The sentiment that everything will be OK is most obvious on lead single "Ancient Rolling Sea," where the chorus quite literally promises "I'll always be by your side," a theme that recurs throughout the record. Some may draw comparisons to
Fleetwood Mac circa
Rumours, and Taylor often evokes the spirit of
Stevie Nicks, especially on album highlight "Rebecca Casanova," but ultimately, it doesn't feel derivative. On the contrary,
Slow Club's metamorphosis feels organic and, more importantly, embraced: this is their record, and the sound you're hearing is
Slow Club overcoming their struggles. [An LP version was also released.] ~ Liam Martin