Model Village

You Chose These Woes

Little Red Rabbit

MP3 $9.90

01/13/2014 5060174959684

LRR 041

FLAC $11.99

01/13/2014 5060174959684

Model Village return with their second album ‘You Chose These Woes’, though on a technicality this could really be their debut. 2012’s ‘A Solution To Everything’ was a compilation of early singles, which no less than The Line Of Best Fit described thus: “As deft as The Shins at their finest and completely ace with it”. That’s an accurate comparison because this new album features subtly brilliant indie-pop with nods toward folk and country. Unashamedly grown-up, the songwriting on these songs is mature, confident and, crucially, utterly memorable. It’s a terrible burden, but the band wear it with unpretentious dignity.
Featuring no less than three lead singers, the Model Village line-up for ‘You Chose These Woes’ stabilised in their Cambridge hometown during writing and recording after a few months of personnel changes. (Did we mention the band are big Fleetwood Mac fans?) That consistency has reaped rewards in the little details. The easy way Rachel Duncan’s vocal melody shifts up into the chorus of ‘Sunday’, a song seemingly about trying to match up to a previous partner, and again when the ‘Rumours’-esque ‘Stockholm’ switches gears from winsome verse to casually soaring chorus. The steady group dynamic reaches a zenith in album standout ‘Oh My Sister’, a classic slice of folk-rock that encapsulates that hopeful sadness when summer moves imperceptibly into autumn.
‘You Chose These Woes’ is ultimately a superbly realised set of songs in which ordinary people search for connections and meaning through the power of great songs. Beautifully simple. That’s a rare thing.