Secretly Canadian – August 30th
Whitney’s gilded charms resulted in one of 2016’s standout debuts, and the group stick to that pattern on a wonderfully endearing follow-up.
After embarking on some unfulfilling studio sojourns, the Chicago group – hinging on Julien Ehrlich and Max Kakacek – opted to finish the album in the same bedroom they laid down their debut LP. As a result, Forever Turned Around shares the almost-pastoral feel of its forebear – from the lilting Neil Young-isms of ‘Giving Up’ to the jaunty 70s strummer ‘Friend Of Mine’. There are surprises, too – take the country inflections of ‘Before I Know It’, while those trumpet flourishes find full light on jazz-leaning ‘Rhododendron’.
Broadening and deepening their sound while remaining true to that initial ethos, Whitney may just have crafted another classic.
Photo by Olivia Bee.
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