Divining Rod - Return to Crystal Cove
New York-based Americana outfit Divining Rod premiere their new LP on Rawckus. Entitled Return to Crystal Cove, the album officially drops April 5 on Kilipaki Records.
Divining Rod | Photo: Craig Sachs
Divining Rod is led by Miyuki Furtado, who explains, “Writing music to me is like exercise – you have to do it every day, whenever you can, and you just have to keep doing it. I think that’s the most important part of writing of any kind.”
A former member of The Rogers Sisters, Furtado left while the band was on tour in Norway, arriving home just prior to the birth of his daughter. Even while working on his old house and taking care of his daughter, Furtado still finds time to write music.
Furtado grew up in Hawaii listening to reggae, country, and hip-hop, all of which influenced his musical style. An eclectic range of stimuli, ranging from Kris Kristofferson to Sonic Youth, diffuse through the new album. Fashioned by Furtado and Patrick Harmon with a delicate touch, the album merges cogent melodies, pictorial lyricism, and suggestive soundscapes into alluring music.
Fashioned by Furtado and Patrick Harmon with a delicate touch, the album merges cogent melodies, pictorial lyricism, and suggestive soundscapes into alluring music.
Spanning a dozen tracks, the first song is “Hemlock Blues,” riding a tasty alt-rock melody rife with shimmering guitars, iridescent synths and hefty resonance. I love the guitar solo on this track, discharging surging tonal hues.
Highlights on the album include “Love Come Tumbling,” traveling on a potent alt-rock-flavored melody with hints of So-Cal country rock running through it. The gorgeously smooth flow of the harmonics and the scrumptiously evocative vocals, tender and charismatic, make the tune irresistibly beautiful. “Helen of Troy” opens on gliding, emerging colors flowing into an epic poem of echoing sounds enveloped in misty cloaks of sonic energy. There’s a glorious mystical suffusion to this song.
“The Day That Was Over Before It Began” travels on glistening riffs atop a rolling, undulating rhythm. A delicious falsetto infuses the tune with blushes of wheeling timbres, as the guitars glitter and sparkle with soft colors. This is my favorite track on the album because of the velvety layered guitars and pastel-feeling harmonics.
Return to Crystal Cove is wonderfully wrought, full of lusciously attractive melodies, lustrous guitars, and powerful but cashmere vocals. This is a must-listen-to album.
