other lives - 'for 12'

other lives is a band from oklahoma. their self titled debut reminded me of a bluegrassy south, with big melancholic strings and was produced by joey waronker.

their upcoming album is entitled tamer animals. although they never sounded like an unbridled beast to me, they seem to have woven their music tighter. 'for 12' is a great step for them, enveloped the reverb, melting plinking upright pianos, a galloping rhythm, wyatt earp leads and haunting cello sounds. i enjoy that i didn't have an easy time guessing the direction of the chord progression and melodies. it even has a break that made me think of the good, the bad and the ugly. even though it doesn't truly have a climax, it's a great playlist starter on a cloudy day.