Four years since the release of their sophomore album, Let Love Through – further establishing Roderick Smith‘s low-key and hypnotic songwriting credentials after their well- received self-titled debut album in 2015 – 2021 sees the return of North Arm. The Sydney-based group share Bring the Daylight, alongside the album’s title track, via Broken Stone Records / Remote Control Records.
‘Bring The Daylight’, which received its premiere with Henry Wagons on Double J’s Tower of Song and online with Backseat Mafia, gently sways and pulses with a warm and encompassing sound built on swooning strings by J. Walker (Machine Translations), economical guitar and rolling bass. It’s organic and confessional, perfectly conveyed by Smith’s mellifluous, half-whispered voice and the backing vocal of Grace Turner.
North Arm songs always display a consistent ability to hypnotise, question, console and intrigue. It’s indie pop with an endlessly inventive art-rock aesthetic. There’s the melodic nous of Neil Finn, the emotional pull of Bon Iver, hazy folk and post rock soundscapes, the rich melancholy of Midlake and the understated beauty of Elliott Smith; all bundled up in Smith’s wondrous songs.
Stream / Download North Arm – ‘Bring the Daylight’
