Counting Crows - Underwater Sunshine
Artist: Counting Crows
Album: Underwater Sunshine
Label: Cooking Vinyl
OUT NOW
Rating: 4/5
We haven’t had a new album from Counting Crows in four years but this week sees that wait come to an end as they release Underwater Sunshine.
This is not only the first album release in four years but it is also the first independent release for the band after the split from the label that had been their home for well over a decade.
What might come as a surprise to all Counting Crows fans is that this time around Underwater Sunshine is a covers album that features tracks from the likes of The Faces, Bob Dylan and Big Star.
Untitled (Love Song) by Romany Rye is the opening track on the album and it’s good to hear Adam Duritz’s distinct vocals ring out one again.
This may be a covers album but Counting Crows have not been afraid to but their own spin on these songs, Start Gain by Teenage Fanclub is a perfect example as they put a bit of a country vibe on the track - which I think works really well; the guitars and the piano just work so beautifully together.
Meet Me On the Ledge is a real highlight as Duritz’s vocals wail out and they are just packed with emotion - he really is on top form with this track.
They have put an electric guitar spin on the track and it just seems to be a song that fit’s the band so well.
There is just something so incredibly uplifting about this album and I enjoyed it from the first track to the very last - there really isn’t a weak song on there.
This may be a covers album but it is distinctly the Counting Crows and they have put a new spin on these tracks making them feel very fresh and original.
Real thought has gone into these songs and the new arrangements and sounds that have been included to make them unique to this band.
Ok so perhaps Crows fans would have been happier if this had been a record of material but this if a fine collection of songs that you just get swept away. Counting Crows - Underwater Sunshine is out now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw