The Deer’s first album with a critically acclaimed label
Critically acclaimed indie label, Keeled Scales have signed folk favorites, The Deer, who have released their newest album, Do No Harm. They have been rewarded by Austin Music Awards as Best Performing Folk Act and Runner Up: Best Austin Band. While Austin, Texas is their hometown, they have connected with music lovers all across the globe with their psychotropic folk vibe.
The five-membered band includes Grace Rowland, Jesse Otis Dalton, Michael McLeod, Alan Eckert and Noah Jeffries. Grace Rowland is the frontwoman and vocalist, whose voice has a pleasant, airy and smooth sound, which compliments the band’s languid melodies and mellow percussion.
One of the tracks on the album, “Swoon” opens with beautiful, angelic harmonies paired with an elegant piano melody. The song is picked up in a few measures with some upbeat string instruments, however, the tone of the vocals remain ethereal and delicate. This track is a calling for peace, and lead vocalist Rowland, tells Billboard that this track is, “a conversation between peacemakers from all directions, from all sides.” She also adds, “I don’t think you can use the general, giant platform of social media to be the barometer in this situation; It’s always the loudest people who are heard the most and always the most radical ideas and inflammatory statements that get the most reaction. But I think in peoples’ own personal, quiet worlds there’s a lot of healing happening, and a lot of discussions and hearing that wasn’t there before we became so divided.”
The second track on the album, “Move to Girls,” presents a delicate and hypnotic vibe, with complimenting ghostly sounding guitar riffs, piano and percussion. This hushed vibe then evolves into something more buoyant and hopeful towards the end of the song. Similarly, the track “Nothing Hurt,” begins with soft, graceful melodies that are swelled into something more powerful.
The Deer combine pop with their traditional folk sound, composing one of the prettiest records of 2019. The band uniquely combines a melodic synth with a fiddle, which is rarely done in neither pop or folk, creating an atmosphere tension through their music. The pretty sounding, ten-track album flies by in about 40 minutes and is a great listen for lovers of indie-folk and pop.
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