Lonely Is A Lifetime – Album Review – The Wild Feathers

By Kat Harlton

www.thewildfeathers.com

Warner Bros. Records

I first came across Nashville, Tennessee’s  The Wild Feathers a couple of years ago, and fell in love with their Southern/Americana/Country sound. So I was hesitant and perhaps even nervous for the new material off their second release Lonely Is A Lifetime, a follow-up to the band’s 2013 self-titled debut.

Written in a cabin in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and  Barcelona, Spain,  recorded in Nashville with producer Jay Joyce (Cage the Elephant, Wallflowers, Amos Lee)and mixed by Dave Sardy (Oasis, Band of Horses) this is an album with a lot to offer.  I found the more I listened to it, the more I fell in love with it.

There are still traces of the sound that their fans have come to love, it’s just mixed with a more radio-friendly rock ambiance, and I find that when describing it to others I often reference early Kings Of Leon (of whom I’m also a huge fan).

Sleepers has a strong rock presence while keeping it’s Americana roots. Reflective, refined and melodic, this is one of many radio-friendly tracks from the album, and definitely worth a listen.

If you’re looking for more of that more traditional Americana-country sound then you’ll love the 8-minute long Goodbye Song. Filled with wicked guitar solos and a 70’s rock influence, it feels really organic and more like a jam session.

For me; however, it’s title track Lonely Is A Lifetime that really won me over. It’s the shortest on the album coming in at under 3 minutes. Slow, gentle and full of harmonies, this ballad perfectly encapsulates the simplicity of yearning and heartbreak. It also has  a mysterious quality about it that continues to fascinate me and I can’t get enough.

Lonely Is A Lifetime is a uniform effort with defining tracks and catchy hooks, definitely worth the repeat button in my opinion.

You can catch The Wild Feathers on tour April 21st at Lee’s Palace, Toronto