"Cathedral" by Former Belle is an equal parts sweet and sorrowful Alt. Folk album.
The self-description on Former Belle's Bandcamp page reads: "An angry kid singing songs with his friends in the basement of his mother's house. xo.". This honestly put me off a bit- and I was not looking forward to pressing play, expecting an angst ridden emo-fest.
Upon listening, I was pleasantly surprised. Don't get me wrong, this album is not angst-free, especially in songs like "Mister Wonderful"... but rarely is it a whiny or over the top (fake) angst.
"Be Good While I'm Gone" and "I Was Waiting For You", two early tracks in the record, are quite endearingly sweet songs- which was not what I was expecting. The fact that he describes himself as a "kid" set me up to expect some self righteous naive themes at play, and to a point there is a nativity within some of these tracks... but it's purely innocent nativity- self aware and sans the off putting self righteousness that so typically follows. Honest.
Songs like "Not the Time" are a perfect example of this very pure and unabashed songwriting in action.
"Cathedral" by Former Belle is available via this Bandcamp page.
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