The Ginger Envelope
Edible Orchids
(One Percent Press, 2007)

I’m a sucker for the pedal steel. Just insert the slightest plucky twang to any melody and I’m likely to swoon. Something about the instrument is just so evocative—the musical manifestation of anguish and angst, as exuded from the laps of the heartbroken. Given my propensity to overzealously enjoy the plaintive wail of the steel, its no surprise that I took an instant liking to the Ginger Envelope’s sound. Edible Orchids, the band’s full-length debut, is shrouded in a lush yet rootsy aesthetic, the kind that’s cozy and inviting. You want to wrap yourself up in it like a patchwork quilt on an unseasonably cold fall day.

Ultimately, Orchids makes for a quintessentially autumnal listen. “Failsafe” and “Kites” are the sort of breezy songs that wouldn’t sound out of place on an old-school Wilco album, with choruses that bloom with emotional frustration and then wither and float away unresolved, yet intact, in the seasonal winds.

“Pandemonium is never too perfect,” sings frontman Patrick Carey, on the aforementioned “Failsafe”, although with the sweeping, pitch-perfect arrangements behind him, it sounds pretty damn sweet. If there’s anything hindering the tune’s potency it might be Carey’s nasally wisp of a voice. While by no means weak, his vocal delivery is at times a little too languid and woozy to sustain the listener’s interest, as he maintains a flat monotonous tone throughout the duration of the album.

As off-putting as that might sound, there is also, however, a surprising amount of hookiness to their mellow brand of Americana. That’s no surprise, really, considering the band hails from Athens, Georgia—the indie-pop Promised Land responsible for spawning the Elephant 6 collective. Like their geographical brethren, the Ginger Envelope has a knack for psych-pop flourishes as well. Opener “Caretaker” features a tumbling piano that gracefully unfolds to reveal a tight backbone of a melody. However, just as you think the sun is about to peak from out behind the peppy, kicking drumbeats on upbeat album closer “Night Sweeping”, the ever-looming pedal steel re-centers the album back to its melancholic core.

If one had to name a drawback to Edible Orchids it would have to be the monochromatic nature of its sonic palette. The band proves amply capable of delivering dreamy mid-tempo alt-country numbers, yet they never seem to veer away from that. Still, it’s hard to fault a band for sticking to their strengths, especially when they do what they do so well. Overall it’s a confident debut by a band well aware of their songwriting skills and one that will happily accompany you throughout the chilliest of months and well into the warmer ones.

Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]