I’ve never really gotten the whole Keane thing, but I might start now. Bandmembers Tim Rice-Oxley and Jesse Quin’s alt-country side project Mt. Desolation feels as authentic as any English Americana band possibly can. Playing along with members of Noah & The Whale, The Killers, The Long Winters, and Mumford and Sons, with production by Emery Dobyns (Anthony &The Johnsons, Noah &The Whale, Patti Smith), the band almost seems like an indie up-and-comers supergroup, putting together a collection really fine songs. At times you’ll hear shades of David Byrne, at others flavors of a more traditional nature, and sometimes the Traveling Willburys even slip in. But the album as a whole feels original, interesting and, well, desolate. But never depressing. Just bare. Bare is probably a better word. Stripped down and pure, these are songs by songwriters played by talented musicians who know their way around a verse-chorus-verse structure. Authentic and honest, this is a great collection of tunes.
Besides, who wants to call an album Mt. Stripped Down And Honest?
