Album Review: Winterbourne – Echo Of Youth

Indie-pop duo Winterbourne survived the indie-folk renaissance and its hold over the mid-2010s, with two excellent EPs that showed a willingness to fuse their roots with the dark and experimental. 

However, their debut album Echo Of Youth doesn’t pack the same punch or excitement of earlier efforts. While admittedly still pushing the boundaries sonically – with all manner of keys, horns and electronics layered on top of the melodies – cuts like Better and Sunday Night feel dragged out; their hooks, while admittedly catchy, feel safe and predictable.

There are moments of slickness that cut through this record like a cool breeze, namely the cruisy Too Many and tender yet groovy Puzzle. Likewise, The Actors provides a bit of joyful stomp and Daylight strips away the synths and harkens back to the fireside singalong sound that gained them so many fans in the first place.

These are diamonds in a record that, for the better part, feels over-thought and over-produced. Tracks like Breaking Out or the flat album kick-off that is Revolutionary, Man show a band with all the ideas, but not quite the execution to make them really shine.