Sea Wolf - Leaves In the River

As one/third of the songwriting muscle in indie pop quintet Irving, Alex Church doesn't have a lot of room to let his talents shine, hence the creation of Sea Wolf. Leaves In the River surpasses any of Church's contributions to his other project, as his songwriting here is able to flourish in a way that isn't possible when the duties are shared. He isn't breaking ground so much as he's reshaping well-traveled paths and making them his own--Church has the singer/songwriter thing down exquisitely, but does it his own way, garnishing the songs with keys, strings and foreboding, occasionally creepy lyrics with quaint little melodies that won't go away. Nature and autumn make numerous appearances, sometimes literally (the album title, the lyrics, the release date), but many of the songs themselves have share the season's bipolarity, ceaselessly shifting from warmth to coldness and back again. [www.dangerbirdrecords.com]