the forks

Okkervil River - Lost Coastlines

The best part about Will Sheff and Jonathan Meiburg is that, when they came together to make music, they formed two bands instead of one.  And now we’re really seeing the culmination of this — Shearwater just released one of the best albums of the year, and Okkervil River is soon to release a new record and follow-up (and sequel) to The Stage Names, dubbed The Stand Ins.

It seems like there’s now been some changes, though; since May Meiburg has left his duties in Okkervil River this year to formally take on Shearwater, and Sheff seems to have distanced himself from the Shearwater camp.  Meiburg wrote all of Shearwater’s songs on Rook for the first time.  Perhaps these two friends are parting ways, instead of sharing the creation of their music under both names as they have in the past.  Maybe this is a good thing.  Maybe it will prove to be a disaster.  Or maybe they will continue to make songs together, mixing and moving like bodily fluids between the bands.

I don’t know.

But this song is like The Forks in the centre of Winnipeg — it’s a Shearwater song and it’s an Okkervil song and who even cares anymore when we’re slapped around with this kind of greatness.  When I listen to this I’m being swept away like the broken branches of an Oak tree in the melding currents of Manitoba’s thaw.