Little Mountain's new release is about the bare necessities of music: guitar, singer, and a good little melody. Joshua Deeter writes simple, storytelling folk songs, fleshed with only the occasional tambourine/shaker or back up voice.
Deeter's voice and acoustic guitar take the spotlight full on, and thankfully, they're interesting enough to warrant it. Wolves for Winter's least impressive song opens the album, an unfortunate start that may cause some listeners to lose interest early on- it simply carries on a couple minutes too long, its initially lovely melody sinking into something plodding and forgettable by its end. If you can make it through, you'll be rewarded though- "The Ballad of Fanni & Simon" and "Thieves" are great songs, sweet love ballads featuring beautiful lyrical imagery. "Oh...Lost Sons" caps the record off, a very strong finish that shares the opener's lengthiness but bears a much more consistent melody, and more of the record's melancholic and moving lyrics: "sometimes your face comes to mind/ and I miss you terribly/ if I ignore the complications and the senseless gains/ your laughter rises up and out of a passing car/ my beautiful ghost..."
Wolves for Winter requires complete attention from the listener to notice the strength of the song writing and the beauty of the lyrics- its weakness is that it doesn't draw us in and capture our attention from the get-go. A little effort may be required by the listener, but Deeter gets it right in three out of the four songs on this release, providing for a strong listen and incentive to keep an eye out for any future releases.
