GospelbeacH

A bittersweet goodbye to GospelbeacH serves up some of the band’s most affecting material, dovetailing with Brent Rademaker’s return to Beachwood Sparks. Wiggle Your Fingers, it has been said, will be the last album from GospelbeacH and sewn into its seams is a feeling of ennui, a golden glow that casts the past in a hazy halo, mixing melancholy with a studio slick sound courtesy of Jonny Nieman. What’s most apparent, as the album eases into shape, is that this may be the most comfortable the band has ever sounded. There’s a shagginess under the sheen, the kind of kinship that’s born on the stage but often has trouble translating to tape. Mixing the reclined countenance of Petty and the honest heart of Emmit Rhodes with a Cosmic American curl that’s purely their own, the band recalls tales of barstools n’ backyards, wasted time, and missed opportunities.

Confessional, cooled by the California breezes, but threaded with a gnawing worry, the album balances dread with a desire to appreciate the time we have. The record looks back at the past with a wrinkled smile and looks to the future with an even more furrowed brow, but knows that sometimes you just need to appreciate the minutia that makes even the worst moments worthwhile. The record folds in friends from near and far, finding members of The Hanging Stars sending in parts from across the Atlantic while Curation corral regulars like Alex Koford and Jake Dejongh round out the ranks. The sun may be setting on the Beach, but as anyone knows, sometimes the most beautiful hues slip out during that golden hour.

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