Introducing a little organic, acoustic bliss – folk instrumentals of skillful musicianship and inspired, hopeful melodies – March to August connect in an instant, with the wonderful album Way Back Home.
An aptly-titled Meandering starts off the journey, paired guitars and double-bass creating a rightfully colourful walk down a pathway of changing paces and presence. It’s a humble yet impressive introduction, and paves the way well for the next 9 originals to follow.
Railway Station underlines a folk-shuffle sort of energy, bringing through an accessible male vocal for some classic country-folk story-telling and self-reflection. After this, the mood softens, those reflective and heartfelt traits pouring through with all the more melancholy and longing, for Reasons.
Arrangement matters, and March To August have set this up for an ideal audience connection – the joy of pure music, the high energy anthem, then the deeply-thoughtful, revealing and vulnerable core.
Upbeat banjo and bass return to light up Along The Way, short lines proving as catchy as the groove, the leading voices reaching passionate new peaks. Then we get the more contemplative Marrying Kind, easy-going in its simple acoustic strum but somewhat heavier in its pondering and uncertainty.
Conductor follows, seeming to achieve a perfect balance of qualities – the blues-inspired rise and fall, the Americana melancholy and possibility intertwined, the memorable concept and resolve; an easy personal favourite.
For Long Hard Road we remain in solo folk territory, another rise and fall melody relaying a series of memories that feel personal yet relatable. Then for the penultimate moment, Give Me A Reason feels a little mainstream for its hooky chorus, before the similarly catchy Way Back Home wraps things up with intimacy and energy carefully united.
March To August keep things honest and fairly timeless with this project – a genuine love for the process meets with a natural ability and clear desire to write and perform in this way. As such, Way Back Home is an easy place to escape into. Worth a few streams this year.
Download Way Back Home via Apple. Find March To August on Facebook, Instagram & their Website.
