The Kissaway Trail/ Sleep Mountain

The Kissaway Trail
Sleep Mountain
(Bella Union)

Three years on from their well received debut, Danish quintet The Kissaway Trail return to demonstrate that there is more to the Bella Union roster than bucolic folksiness in the wake of their massive successes with Fleet Foxes and Midlake.
Often derided as Arcade Fire copyists, it must still be noted that the Montreal band’s epic, emotional song structures inform Sleep Mountain heavily, as well as those other usual suspects The Flaming Lips and Neil Young, whose stark ‘Philadelphia’ is covered by the band.
Six-minute single ‘SDP’ opens the album in a flurry of church bells, but never really achieves the euphoric rush it often hints at. Elsewhere, some offbeat drumming and computer-aided stutters power ‘Friendly Fire’, making for a spontaneous air that is missing elsewhere.
Lyrically, the album focuses heavily on the staple themes of “grief, loss and love”, so the choice of ‘Philadelphia’ to cover seems poignant and fitting, the faint and restrained orchestral flourishes never consuming the track.
The overall feeling here is of a band still locating their identity, and while they're more than capable writers and musicians, it still feels somewhat by-the-numbers.