一聽音樂網

Even before this release, Baltimore natives Wye Oak had quickly ascended my personal list of favorite artists. With this, they cement themselves into the most rarified air of my all-time beloved musicians. All the pitfalls you hear and fear of the sophomore album are utterly non-existent as Jenn and Andy make a strong and organic thrust forward with The Knot (the first truly new album since signing to North Carolina-based Merge Records about a year and a half ago). They provide strong evidence that traditional songwriting has plenty of life left in it (take that leftfield and avant-garde!).
　　The thing that makes The Knot so grand is that it is a natural polishing of all the facets of their debut gem If Children. Jenn’s soaring vocals and big-riff, crashing guitars, Andy’s finessed drumming and mysterious, warm synth work, all these see some fantastic maturation. The interplay of all these elements becomes even more awe-inspiring in the context of a wider range of peaks and valleys, expansions and contractions. These elements give their sound a fresh sense of cavernous space and epic proportion that makes If Children appear almost claustrophobic by comparison.