Noah and the Whale, The First Days of Spring

The British indie-folk band’s follow-up to its highly successful debut album wasn’t quite what I expected, but I love it nonetheless.

The First Days of Spring for the most part leaves behind the toe-tapping tunes we came to love on Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down and introduces us to a softer, more toned-down set of songs. The album starts out slow, quiet, and calm, and the band continues this way throughout most of the album, giving us a feel of rebirth — like the first days of spring.

When I heard Noah and the Whale were coming out with a new album, I expected more upbeat folk songs that dominate Peaceful…, but when I listened to the new album for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised. The band uses more violins and other stringed instruments on the new album, with a few purely instrumental tracks. The group also uses more harmonies, giving an almost Fleet Foxes feel to some of the songs.

I thought about the stark difference between this album and the band’s debut album and I quickly realized that although the overall sound may be different, several things on both albums are quite similar. For example, themes of sadness, love, happiness, and despair come through just as strong on this album as they did on its debut album. The First Days of Spring just presents the music differently.

A cool feature of the album is that when you buy it in stores or download it on iTunes, it comes with a film the band made. The film is a series of short scenes set to the music of the album. It presents a unique way to listen to the album’s 11 tracks.

Most of the songs on the album have a sad, almost depressed feel to them, but then track 6 begins and completely changes the entire mood of the album — for about 3 minutes, at least. “Love of an Orchestra” begins with the singing of some kind of choir; you may even check to make sure you’re still listening to Noah and the Whale. The group’s familiar vocals soon return, however, and a happy, upbeat Noah and the Whale song comes through your speakers. I couldn’t help but listen to the track over and over. After it’s over, the album goes back to the sad feel it had before, but that one catchy track lightens the feel of the entire album.

I love The First Days of Spring and I can’t stop listening to it; I think it’s a great step forward for the band. They didn’t just repeat what we loved about Peaceful…, instead keeping some of the same elements while also taking it to the next level.