The Wake

Sunset frontman Bill Baird is not impressed by your iPhone. Baird is interested in what he can do, what he can feel. He makes an effort to swim in the creek by his house daily and he’s always on the lookout for a quality watering hole to dip into. Pictures of him always tend to take place in the woods or on the beach. But before you dismiss Baird as another goddamn hippie with a guitar, you owe it to yourself to check out the sounds that come out of his admittedly abnormal head.

Sunset’s new album, Gold Dissolves to Gray, was recorded on analog tape, and you can feel it in the sound. It’s one of the warmest records you’ll hear this year. The album rollicks and rambles and rolls along at its own pace, rarely finding reason to push outside the comfortable ambiance of Baird’s contentment.

One of the album’s best songs, “Fishtown,” is really not so different from the rest of the record. It’s anchored by steadily plunked piano chords that hold the song in place when other instruments threaten to wrest control away. Baird sings naturally, as if he’s making up the words as he goes along. Softly toned electric guitar floats above the melody, while acoustic guitar enters with occasional flourishes. When the song finishes, it’s as if it had just floated through your head, nodding hello but certainly not making a disturbance.

You get the feeling that that’s what Baird is looking for in his music. A man with a unique conception of people’s place in the world, he is simply looking to find sounds that fit together.

Baird has talked about working at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired with lower functioning students who are suddenly invigorated by a Nick Drake or Simon & Garfunkel harmony, as if the beauty and brilliance of the sounds penetrated something deep inside them. On a more modest level, this is what Gold Dissolves to Gray does. Without ever sounding like their trying to, the songs seem to naturally coalesce as new instruments ease into the mix and melodies become stronger.

“Our Dreams Did Weave A Shade” and “Gold Dissolves To Gray” are also standouts, with the former incorporating a friendly female presence to harmonize with Baird, and the latter experimenting with twangy guitar over an omnipresent piano. Both songs feature wandering, nonlinear lyrics that reflect the complacent happiness of the music.

Gold Dissolves To Gray is an album that will slip through the cracks if you don’t give it the time it deserves. But after a few spins, you’ll find a group of songs that would like nothing better than to settle down and make friends.