Akron/Family
Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free

The year 2009: a year of profound changes in the Akron family.
Those who follow the exploits of this freak folk band will know well the key role of Michael Gira in the discovery of these young talents and, thanks to the talent scout abilities of the Swans' leader, they had attracted considerable attention under his label Young God Records.
This album represents the separation from father Michael, not by slamming the door, but with the reverence of children towards a monument that has given them the means to be known, and they turn to the deeds of Dead Oceans (a label under the aegis of Secretly Canadian and Jagjaguwar which includes Califone and Dirty Projectors among others..).
To this detachment, we must add the debatable choice of one of the key members, Ryan Vanderhoof, who, in full spiritual crisis and having become a member of a Buddhist community, decides he can no longer play with the group, leaving the Akron family as a trio... now, I don't know about you, but reading all these news, I, who had greatly appreciated previous works, smell something fishy.

"Everyone Is Guilty" comes to pour water on the fire and we restart exactly from where we left them, you don't feel Gira's absence behind the recording room's glass, you don't feel the farewell to Vanderhoof, and we restart with the usual and beautiful Akron/Family. Choral rhythms, acoustic moments, and a few moments of almost gospel confusion that drags the listener into a colorful atmosphere.
It's hard to forget some masterful solutions of "Love Is Simple," the previous album, because the ideas are the same but perhaps with renewed maturity; I believe this album has brought a more coherent completion to the freak folk brushstrokes of the album from two years earlier, there's a deep focus of the musicians on the arrangements and sounds here.
"Set 'Em Free" and "Many Ghosts" are the best tracks, they revisit a country aura in different ways, but always immersed in a choral quality that defines their distinct trait; I see myself sitting at the edge of a beach or around a campfire with friends in the summer: the voices, the affections, and smiles, while wanting to celebrate and the joyful spirit invades the heart.

We move from a bucolic intimacy reminiscent of the early days to other moments rich with new instruments and rhythms to dance to, tipsy in a circle, but what strikes me is the continued inspiration. In other words, I believe that "Love Is Simple" has three or four songs of absolute value that define its aura as the best album, but it gets lost in some style slips that are widely forgivable yet still present, while in this album we have a consistently high level in the majority of the tracks and a maturity in attention to detail that emerges forcefully.
I was also initially deceived into almost mechanically awarding the best album's palm to one of the earlier ones (including "Meek Warrior"), but two years after its release, I'm starting to harbor some doubts about it.

While I reflect, the sudden electric noise burst of the instrumental "MBF" arrives, waking us from the kaleidoscope of colors where we had drowned, almost like a weird metal experiment to shake us and open the path to the final tracks that crown the album with the final lullaby "Last Year," which soothes the senses just stimulated, we let ourselves go into a light sleep in the sleeping bag full of stars, and we're convinced the trio has won, but a thought also flies to Ryan Vanderhoof, and we wish him well, even without having ever met him, even without wanting to live in a Buddhist community, but knowing that we are all part of the same family... Akron.