AFTER a year of being my favorite band no one had ever heard of, Alberta Cross finally released their first full-length album last month. Broken Side of Time adds seven new tracks into the mix on top of three reworked versions from their EP The Thief and the Heartbreaker that got me so hooked last year.
There are still a few light moments ("Taking Control" "Old Man Chicago") on the album, but this time around the mood seems to be a little darker, a little heavier. Maybe the transplant from London to Brooklyn is working out so well on the psyches of the band, but the music is soaring. There is an obvious touch of escapism when Petter Erickson Stakee sings Come on take me home/Cause I just wanna feel/Cause I just can't relate/. Whether its homesickness or heartbreak is never quite clear to me, but the effect is ominous throughout. The album's middle three tracks are the tastiest, gravitating from downright sinister ("Broken Side of Time") to haunted blues ("Rise from the Shadows") through to gritted-teeth pleading ("City Walls"). The title track roars with such violence I don't know whether to sob or scream along. That's my favorite thing about Alberta Cross, the range of emotions they fit into a four or five minute song is stunning. At times, the vocals are indecipherable due to Stakee's Swedish roots, a lyric often slurring and wrapping itself around the first syllables of the next. It's beautifully confusing, and highlighted in moments of Americana touching the fringes of European folk ("Ghost of City Life"). While "The Thief and The Heartbreaker" might still be the quintessential Alberta Cross tune, the album promises only growth, and I personally love the dark horizons.
Get this album yesterday...
LISTEN: Broken Side of Time
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