Lavender Days

by Caamp

Overview

2019's By & By saw Columbus, Ohio's Caamp deliver an agreeable and often affecting set of neighborly indie folk ditties that bounded weightlessly across multiple branches of American roots music. Very little has changed, at least stylistically, in the Caamp camp with album number three. Like a slice of warm apple pie, Lavender Days provides copious amounts of affirmation and comfort, even at its most wistful. The opener/intro "Come with Me Now" sticks with a simple two-chord melody that builds to a soft crescendo that showcases the group's impeccable harmonies, which are bolstered throughout the LP by special guests Nathaniel Rateliff and Waxahatchee's Katie Crutchfield. It's a blueprint that Caamp adhere to dogmatically throughout Lavender Days' 12 often indistinct pieces. Mellower and more sonically streamlined than its predecessor, the album leans hard into the group's breezy West Coast folk-pop predilections, with each track unfolding with ease and gentle care -- even Taylor Meier's gruff cadence feels softened. Still, Evan Westfall's tasteful banjo playing allows the band to keep one foot in the Ohio River Valley, and songs like the bustling, Black Crowes-inflected "Believe" and the bubbling country-folk confections "Appletree Blues" and "The Otter" come off as likeably formulaic rather than perfunctory. Songs of love, hope, loss, and heartache are ubiquitous for a reason, and Meier and Westfall are, without a doubt, adept interpreters of the familiar. ~ James Christopher Monger

Product Details

Release Date:	07/07/2023
Label:	Mom + Pop Music
UPC:	0810090093123
Rank:	5027

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Caamp   Primary Artist
Nicholas Sanborn   Accordion
Liz Fisher   Violin
Katie Crutchfield   Vocal Harmony
Matt Vinson   Double Bass,Vocal Harmony,Bass (Electric),Guitar (Baritone)
Nathaniel Rateliff   Vocal Harmony
Phil Cook   Piano,Keyboards
Matthew McCaughan   Drums,Percussion
Jon Ashley   Drums
Evan Westfall   Banjo,Drums,Mellotron,Vocal Harmony,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Taylor Meier   Vocals,Mellotron,Percussion,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Joe Kavalec   Organ,Piano,Keyboards,Fender Rhodes

Technical Credits

Bob Ludwig   Mastering
Beatriz Artola   Mixing,Producer
Brad Cook   Producer
Caamp   Arranger,Producer
Taylor Meier   Concept,Composer
Joe Kavalec   Artwork
Stephanie Haller   Artwork
Sophia Matinazad   Photography
Austin Sterpka   Artwork,Photography
Brandon Maclean   Engineer
Lena Run   Artwork