‘Last April,’ the new mini-album by The Declining Winter, is one of those rare records that looks grief in the eye and does not flinch. We have all lost someone and the machinations of recovery are complex and multitude. Many suffer in silence. Others put their emotions on canvas or on page. Richard Adams, here, turns to what he knows best – the recorded song. Augmented by the irrefutably melancholy string arrangements/playing of Sarah Kemp (brave timbers), ‘Last April’ reads like a diary intentionally left open. Fans of Red House Painters, Songs: Ohia and even Codeine, will recognise the plaintive tone here and perhaps take comfort in it.
Limited edition clear vinyl copies of ‘Last April’ quickly sold out but the black vinyl version is still available from the band’s Bandcamp page, alongside the CD. There’s also a download and streaming option.
Here’s what people have had to say about it :
“Its limited palette of spindly acoustic guitar and banks of waterlogged strings is a strong vessel for Adams’ hushed voice. Six songs, each of a piece, each sodden with an earthy, drowsy melancholy” UNCUT
“an album of delicate layers, intricately woven together through personal storytelling. Fans of Talk Talk, epic45 and July Skies should dive right in” SIC magazine
“the perfect example of the combination of sadness, hope and love that music can capture perhaps more effectively than any other artform”. KLOF mag
“as if the autumnal melancholy of the Hood era had found substance and dense representation, connected to the themes and experiences, even painful ones, of adulthood” Music Won’t Save You
“a profoundly special record that should remain a go-to place of solace for many years to come for its listeners and creators alike.” Freq
“barely over a half-hour in length, but there’s no mistaking it for a minor entry in Adams’ oeuvre” Rosy Overdrive
“an album both bleak and beautiful, cathartic and almost uncomfortably personal with just a glimpse of hope amongst the sadness” Norman Records
“a subtle beauty, which knows how to caress like newly fallen autumn leaves.if you like Hood, Piano Magic, Talk Talk and Dakota Suite you will appreciate this album”. De Subjectivsen