67. Single Review of Voices by North Woods
Originally Published on November 25th, 2024
About the Artist
One of the visions I have for Fifteen Minutes of Fame is the limitless possibilities there are for artists from all walks of life to come together. Maybe they collaborate on a song. Maybe they support one another for a show or even a tour. Even a thing as simple as discovering one another and gaining fans and friendship can propel art, inspire fellowship, and motivate musicians to keep doing what they’re doing. The right community can be a blanket of support.
The best thing about collaborating is the shared creation of something that musicians can be proud to be a part of. For instance, the collaboration between Sherry Aviles and Christina Thomas Taylor in 2016, who formed the group North Woods. “North Woods is a collaboration between two individual singer-songwriters who brought their different styles together to create a unique sound all their own.” (Spotify bio)
Aviles and Taylor, both from the Boston area, formed in 2016 and have since released a number of singles together. In 2021, they released Holloway, along with three other singles. They released three more singles in 2022, including the melancholic piano ballad, Darkness. They wouldn’t have another release until September of 2023, when they would release their haunting, yet inspiringly powerful song Onward Tomorrow. It would be more than a year before they would release one of the absolute best songs I would hear in 2024.
About the Song
The Voices is a single from the alt/folk duo North Woods. It was released on November 8th, 2024. With a runtime of around Five minutes and Fifteen seconds, it features Sherry Aviles and Christine Thomas Taylor on vocals to the accompaniment of an acoustic guitar and the sound effect of a cold winter breeze blowing in the background of the song.
About the Music
Musically, this is a minimalist piece of music and yet it is enriched with melodies and harmonies that are immensely pleasing to the ear. The entire song is accompanied by a single acoustic guitar being fingerpicked. Most of the entire song features the duo singing together and the blend of the two vocal parts is so magnificent, I just didn’t want to stop listening.
The song opens and closes with an effect of a wind chime and the audio effect of a cold breeze blowing over the acoustic guitar intro. The entire feeling of the song is isolated, as if the music is being played in the middle of a field and its notes are floating away like a loosed balloon; lingering until they can no longer be seen or heard.
The vocal parts perform to no audio effect, except for a hint of reverb that play to this isolated feeling. The two vocal parts thrive off of one another. They each know when to build and when to back off of one another. It sounds so naturally done, it would almost appear to be instinctive. I have no idea how to know their first rehearsal went but I get the impression the two singers immediately knew their vocals would be an incomparable blend.
The production value of the song is of excellent quality. I can’t honestly imagine there was a whole lot to do with the engineering and editing. The accents all sound and seem to be organic. From the guitar playing to each of the singers, it sounds like the control all came from the performance. Not to say engineering didn’t have a hand in it. Perhaps it did. The most notable contribution is the incorporation of the reverb on the vocal parts which is so elemental to the overall feel of the music.
About the Lyrics
Lyrically, the author(s) have given us the perfect blend of analogy and reflection, bouncing between one and another to tell an intricate story of how the narrator is caught repeating the same fate due to them being drawn towards this subject that they have a deep fixation for.
“Don’t take me back. I wanna keep moving. I won’t have you pulling me back to that place. Things I have seen are haunting me night and day. Splinters of wood, sunlight. Your face.”
I love the imagery of this first verse. How the author is associating images to a moment where they can reflect on seeing the subject along with inanimate objects that are sensory triggers to the situation.
“Take the voices out of my head. My ears are still ringing. Shelter I seek, I know I can’t find. Take the voices out of my head. I still hear them singing. I keep running away from my mind.”
The analogy here is a just a painfully accurate description of what it feels like to go through this type of internal conflict. Wanting to move towards healing but struggling with an addiction we cannot live without. This could be a bad romance, a drug, a habit. The lyrics are exceptionally human.
Final Thoughts
So, I must confess. North Woods did not submit to have a review written. I found their song on one of the threads playlists I follow that feature independent artists. That being said, I don’t always write reviews for artists who submit. I listen to every single artist that submits their music at least once every month. Every single artist deserves something to be said about their work. Whether it’s viewed as “good” or “bad,” it comes from somewhere. It comes from very real places and most of these artists have really sacrificed in sharing their stories. Unfortunately, I am just one person. I am hardly able to do a fraction of the submissions on a monthly basis. So I don’t want it to be just about checking those boxes. It shouldn’t be.
I write about what speaks to me. What stands out to me. That’s how I keep what I do authentic to the reader. Authentic to the artist I am reviewing. So they can have a reference to their work and how it impacted a listener in a very real way.
That’s why we’re here today. North Woods have produced something that made the world around me just stop. I felt like I was in the center of a tornado but, instead of winds, vocal harmonies were swirling around me. Pushing me, pulling. Me, guiding me into the chaos.
The song was so beautifully melancholic that it was luminous to all of the sensory inhibitors in my brain; lighting them up like a Christmas Tree. The dynamics were performed naturally and the trust these two musicians have for one another is something that is truly, truly special. It allows them to explore every corner of their melodic universe with the comfort of knowing they’re not alone in the journey. This prepares them for so many musical choices that they can fearlessly make. They will never have to worry about filling sound. Adding instruments. Though they would be fine doing it, it’s not needed. They can fill an entire space with their voices and an acoustic guitar. This has been an aspiring performance. North Woods have given us limitless possibilities.
Thank you so much Jeff. This was such a wonderful surprise. It is so nice to know that someone out there is listening and enjoying our work.
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