Peasant's second release is a collection destined for the dirt

The Life of the Troubador is never easy. Take Damien DeRose, whose plans to sail the coast of America sunk, and whose subsequent travels around the US and Europe spawned first album, On The Ground, an only so-so debut that pitted him somewhere between Elliot Smith and McCombs in style, but rarely scope.

That’s not to say it didn’t have it’s moments, but here DeRose is simply trying too hard to expand his canon. Peasant are obviously at ease at spinning brittle webs of melody, but Derose’s delivery lacks the menace that made up his previous albums better parts. Shady Retreat’s real weakness is it’s distinct lack of identity, with his voice cast high in the mix, Derose’s reliance on double tracked vocal and a lack of lyrical depth makes his words all the more meaningless.

Whereas On The Ground lurked in the murky recesses of a lone strangers thoughts, Derose here is trying to adopt a lightness of touch that doesn’t suit his subversive sentiment. There’s a few moments when the stained porch breeze blows easily through his melodies - On ‘Well, Alright’ Peasant stroll through the shade of their forefathers influences with relative ease, or on the lo-fi scuzz of closer ‘Slow Down’ - but Peasant for now are merely that, and the pursuit of a higher position seems to have backfired quite badly.

Alex Hibbert