Considerably brightening my day today is the NPR 'First Listen' selection from a few weeks ago, which is Givers' life-loving, effervescent debut album, "In Light." I first heard the impossibly cheerful single "Up Up Up" on a mix made for me by my musically attuned pal Chris Cook a few months ago. It was all the more of a stand-out because he'd cleverly nestled it amidst a mix otherwise dominated by a bunch of lo-fi drone pop, and noisy non-chorus-sporting tone poems, so when the good folks of Givers wound up with an "Ohhhhhhhh we up up up up above love. Yeah we down down here on the ground" I gave the old Scooby Doo double take at my speakers.
No secret here that I often like my music cheerful and sing-along-able, sunny, and sort of guileless, so I'm pretty happy to report that the rest of the album, in my opinion, is even better than the kettle-drum tropical shine of the single. Songs become layered with harmony and shimmering guitar riffs, and are devoid of the fuzz and reverb that is drenching and obscuring so much of their peers' music nowadays. Givers aren't afraid to sing it loud and proud.
Listen to the whole album here at NPR while you still can. "In Light" will be available for purchase tomorrow.
