Album Review: Into The Woods - Goldentone

If you've found yourself pining for a fill to the void of jangly pop this summer, then let Into The Woods usher in the new year for you. They're local, they're fun, and after bopping their way around the Melbourne scene for more than half a decade they have released their debut record, Goldentone.

It's an apt name for the album, given the sun-drenched nature of songs like opener, A Cautionary Tale (“I arrived one evening/seeking shelter from her heat/My father held no rules there/people came just as they pleased”) and lead single, Black Dog. To find that Goldentone was produced by Neil Thomasson (Wagons, Crayon Fields) is no surprise, given the sometimes laconic, country-tinged moments that appear throughout.

Lyrically, the band don't break any boundaries (“Picture a piece of me/a piece of you/Now I won't forget you/Don't let the morning come” : Don't Let The Morning), but clearly the five-piece are having a blast making music together, Goldentone the pay off from many years' hard slog. Fellow Melburnian Ainslie Wills drops by to lend a hand on the French-inspired lounge number, Morning Bird, a highlight on the album's second half. With Little Red calling it quits in 2012, the mantle for local pop band of 2013 is up for grabs, and Into The Woods are certainly putting their collective hand up.

There's undoubtedly a lot more music in the bank for the quartet. As long as they don't over-extend, they'll find themselves a nice little place on the Australian musical landscape. They've already been played on national radio, but Goldentone, you get the sense, is just the beginning.