by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Tallahassee's Winded make music for the emotionally exhausted, which is good because I'm feeling pretty emotionally exhausted right now. The solo project of Thrin Vianale, their songs and gentle but never broken, sparse but fully realized. Schwartz Goes To Heaven is a stunning album built on gorgeous melancholy and a knack for surprises. While the delivery is often soft and always introspective, Vianale isn't afraid to use a bit of volume, bursting apart sensitive amounts with a necessary catharsis, breaking from the "solo act" mold with those little all-the-difference-in-the-world nuances sprinkled in throughout.
"I Know It's Thin" ripples between dreamy drifts and washed out shoegaze while "No Honey" takes a Pixies framework at half speed and subverts it to an earnest reflection without the use of vocals. Singles "Soap Dust" and "Teething" are vibrant and layered with harmonies, pulling at your heart strings while sinewing together vocal lines and the latter's ever important reminder, "this is the best I can do". There's a positivity that peaks from flickering dim and sweeping shadows, a weary hopefulness waiting for it's time to come out. The occasionally blistering "See Thru Girl" is a stand-out, a warbling wall of breezy sound and stabs of oozing color, a pairing that's both unpredictable and memorable.
Winded's Schwartz Goes to Heaven is out June 22nd via Community Records.