Salazar
Saudade
Self-Released
Street: 05.29.14
Salazar = (Temper Trap + My Morning Jacket) / Wilco
There are plenty of folk acts around these days—so many that even incredibly talented groups’ works are forgotten as soon as the album ends. Saudade does not have this issue. Without going out of its own way, Salazar’s debut full-length album is one that will bore itself into that part of the brain that holds your most bittersweet, life-assessing moments and memories, and forever plays over them like some Zach Braff–curated soundtrack. It’s a 10-track dream-folk masterwork, every song distinct from the last but also a perfect complement to the sum. “At high tide/there’s a note/that I wrote down/I let it sink deep down,”: The opening lyrics of the album’s title track really tell the story. This is a work that will latch onto you and linger for weeks, even months. –Blake Leszczynski