ALBUM REVIEW: Woods Invites Aural Wandering on ‘Perennial’

EDITOR’S NOTE: As the end of the year approaches, we’re taking a look back at albums we weren’t able to review when they first came out. Perennial was released in September.

Somewhere amid the beautiful tangle of instrumental loops and psychedelic orchestral jams, Woods has once again reinvented themselves with their latest release, Perennial. A dozen albums and two decades in, the group is still finding ways to expand their sound and polish experimental nuggets into shimmery gems of keys, mellotron, distortion, tons of guitars, and Jeremy Earl’s soft-focus vocals. Perennial features some of the band’s breeziest arrangements, making for an elegant trip, light on its feet and unburdened with stiff perfection.

The toe-curling licks and bendy notes on songs like “Between the Past” and “Little Black Flowers” capture the elasticity of the group, something they especially excel at when gathered on a stage for a live set.

More explosive pop moments like “Weep,” with its bursting chorus, sit satisfyingly alongside low-key instrumental tracks like “The Seed,” a warbling dreamscape. A kaleidoscopic blend of pedal steel, organ, Wurlitzer, autoharp, vibraphone, and sax adds intrigue and unpredictability to the songs on Perennial, from the ethereal, wide-eyed “Double Dream” to the dark, driving “Another Side.” Woods has mastered that otherworldly quality that has the power to make you question what exactly that sound you’re hearing actually is. The uncertainty of it all lets you wander and, ideally, get a little lost in these songs, like some kind of sweet hypnosis.

Perennial is a panoply of Woods’ best attributes as a band: their ease of playing and relaxed approach to songcraft that yields such eclectic instrumental splendor. And essentially, its songs work well together as a collection, or a listening experience. At its best it is both moody and bright, as mysterious and inviting as the ocean they looked out at from the California studio where it was recorded. For a band this prolific to still sound like they’re having the most fun just trying new things means they’re truly in a groove.

Woods’ Perennial was released Sept. 15 on Woodsist.