(Pop-Rock, Indie Rock) Mike Mains & The Branches - Calm Down, Everything Is Fine - 2014, MP3, 320 kbps

Along the banks of Lake Michigan lies a small cabin. Concealed from view by towering trees, it is most discernible by the billows of smoke and music that have intertwined and are seeping out from the chimney. It is here that Mike Mains & The Branches forged the songs that would become their sophomore album, Calm Down, Everything is Fine.
Inspiring days filled with exploration, introspection, and writing about those discoveries, this quiet setting harkens back to a simpler time. Consequently, so does the music that was born here. Mains’ newest batch of songs are not an abandonment of his more aggressive roots, but almost four years have passed since the band released their debut album, Home and the aggression has been redirected into more intentional, dense musical arrangements. Mains’ signature vocal eruptions are still present throughout, but the tone is less teenage-angst ridden and more defined, mature, and authoritative.
The lush instrumentation of Calm Down marks a maturing for the 26-year-old songwriter. With that brings a certain conscientiousness that, for Mains, has not only manifested in his lyrics, but has found its place into the arrangements as well.
Accordion, horns, and organ artfully compliment analog synthesizers, all woven seamlessly into the tapestry of the band’s well-seasoned rock sensibilities. Folk influences are apparent, though not intrusive. Calm Down isn’t a hollow attempt to replicate a bygone era of music; rather, Mike Mains & The Branches are tactfully interweaving the past that so influenced them with the music that excites them now, all with a subtle twist of nostalgia.
Fans can expect to be moved by lyrics that are both deeply personal and piercingly universal. At times the record demands dancing, at other times introspection. But throughout the range of effects Calm Down will have on listeners, the deceptively comforting title is juxtaposed by the confident recklessness of songs that are, at their core, moving.
The album was produced by Matt Hoopes (Relient K) and Lane Johnson, and features Zac Farro (Paramore, Half Noise) on drums and Hoopes on guitar.