Port O'Brien 'Threadbare'

Port O'Brien return with the follow-up to last year's joyful 'All We Could Do Was Sing', an album written on a fishing boat and containing ramshackle acoustic-based songs which tugged at the heartstrings whilst encouraging the listener to sing along. The band are, essentially, a duo. Both Van Pierszalowski and Cambria Goodwin sing and play instruments and both have jobs outside of the band. Goodwin's brother died whilst this record was being written and while it is not a solemn album, the dominant themes are life, death and friendship as well as finding pleasure in the simple things in life.

Musically things haven't changed all that much. 'Threadbare' in general is a little less hurried than its predecessor, the songs are allowed to breathe a little more and it is generally a touch slower. There is certainly nothing here as out-and-out celebratory as 'I Woke Up Today. Port O'Brien certainly have a way with melody though. Most songs here, whether slow or fast, have a memorable melody and are very hummable. Pierszalowski's 'My Will Is Good', in particular, is extraordinarily catchy.

The key difference between the two records though is that while everything on 'All We Could Do Was Sing' was enjoyable, here there are some great songs....and they are mostly those featuring Goodwin on vocals. 'Tree Bones' starts off as a gentle strum before building into a swirling anthem and finishing with Goodwin singing quietly and starkly over minimal backing, its a song of growth, life and then decay, disarming, affecting but joyful. The title track and the two versions of 'High Without The Hope' that bookend the album create similar moods with slow arrangements and Goodwin's ghostly vocal combining to usher in a sound not unlike Mimi Parker-fronted Low songs.

There is certainly a split between Goodwin's songs and Pierzalowski's. The latter are generally livelier, the ramshakle 'Oslo Campfire' with its chants and yelps being a key example as well as the buoyant 'Leap Year', the nearest thing here to the carefree abandon of 'I Woke Up Today'. The exception that proves the rule though is the album's centrepiece 'Calm Me Down', an epic ballad sung by Piewzalowski, patiently building into an impassioned chorus and a string-laden coda. Its perhaps the best track here.

'Threadbare' is not a record that will provide instant gratification. Its a varied, sometimes difficult, album that demands patience and a willingness to explore. It is also a beautiful set of songs and delivers, through sadness, a feeling of joy and life-affirment. A record about friendship, love and life. Great stuff.

['threadbare' is out now on City Slang]