On a Golden Shore

The Hanging Stars

Released on 3/8/24 by Loose
Main artists: The Hanging Stars
Genre: Country

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On a Golden Shore proves that Americana is all about a feeling, not necessarily a place. London's The Hanging Stars may not have grown up in the United States, but you wouldn't know it from listening to their fourth album, which tracks the roots of cosmic country's twisted family tree, branching out from the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers into Big Star, the Grateful Dead, Wilco, early Beachwood Sparks and—yes, in an act of hybridized boundlessness—Scotland's own Teenage Fanclub. As you can probably surmise from that list, the harmonies here are stellar. Celestial, even, on tracks like the psyched-out and loose-jointed “Happiness Is a Bird,” a folksy jam-band twinkler with meteoric flashes of guitar. Golden "Let Me Dream of You" sounds like a direct descendent of Summerteeth-era Wilco, with its sunny steel guitar (courtesy of Joe Harvey-Whyte) and insistent jangle and shuffle. It helps that frontman Richard Olson's tone has a certain Jeff Tweedy quality, too, on songs like "Heart in a Box,” which is brightened up by dizzy horns. Grooving on kaleidoscopic keys, "Washing Line" is easy like Sunday morning. "Disbelieving" smartly blends astral vibes and desert dust. "Golden Shore" leans into the thrumming bass, hypnotic bongos and sweetly melancholic flute of Transcendental Meditation-era Beatles, while Patrick Ralla's banjo livens up "No Way Spell.” "Silver Rings"—its keys and percussion in a playful jazz spirit—channels the liquidity of the Dead circa Shakedown Street. And blissed-out, memorable "Sweet Light” and “I Need a Good Day” totally get that Teenage Fanclub magic of pairing naif sunniness with spiky guitar. A worthy import, On a Golden Shore is made in the UK with top-notch American ingredients. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

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On a Golden Shore

The Hanging Stars

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