The Temperance Movement first came into my life with “A Pleasant Peace I Feel” which echoed classic 70s “deep thought” music and followed it up with a tone and style very reminiscent of the more free and open days of rock and roll as it was finding its own place in the world during the late 60s and early 70s. While that certainly was an excellent song to get my attention, their latest release “A Deeper Cut” pushes things forward for the band without losing the raw emotional feel they began with their first release “White Bear”.
Released in February of this year, “A Deeper Cut” entrenches The Temperance Movement as one of the more talented bands today. Fronted by vocalist Phil Campbell, the rest of the band consists of guitarists Paul Sayer and Matt White (joining in 2016), Nick Fyffe on bass and drummer Simon Lea (2017 addition). As a group there was certainly a high level of experience as this groups resume of previous bands include Rooster, The Waterboys and Jamiroquai.
Often during reviews I tend to ramble on about most of the songs on the release but I’m going to refrain from that approach this time. This is one of those releases where everyone is going to find their favorites for their own reasons. After listening to the entire release a few times today, here are the ones that reached out to me and pulled me in.
A Deeper Cut, the title release, is an introspective slow tune with an acoustic foundation that plays well for the entire song. I’m a sucker for a slow song anyway which explains my passion around “A Pleasant Peace I Feel” and my gratitude that they followed that up with another slow song, just for me. Well, I’ll keep telling myself that but I have a feeling as a title cut, this will be a personal favorite for most.
Beast Nation. You’d think with such a title it would be a harder song, but no. However it’s not easy to tell the topic of the song from the lyrics alone the focus of the song. From reading it a few times and keying on:
“When all you got left is a medal and a worn memory
Then the clarity comes and sediment settles and you fly fly away
And your wings are strong for all the right and the wrong you live to fight another day
Come inside and dry your eyes”
I’m going to guess a medal from war, or a sporting event. Maybe a sporting event during a war. All I know is if I get to interview the band one day I would like to know more about the thought behind this one. Now it’s going to haunt me, but hey – I can keep hitting rewind and make it a mission to try and figure it out on my own. All good, I don’t mind putting this one on repeat, fully understanding it or not.
Closing out my 3rd pick from this release (no easy feat to keep it to 3, go ahead and listen to it all and you give it a shot!) I’ll take the final song, The Wonders We’ve Seen. In typical Temperance Movement style, you’ll feel the blues rock roots that reminds you of the early days of rock and roll. Even moreso if you’re old enough to have lived through them the first time.
Check them out and see them on tour should they come your way.
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