On their debut album ‘Songs from an Endless Night’, NZ duo The Advocators leave no stone unturned, both in their sprawling storytelling and versatile sound.
The Advocators have shared ‘Songs from an Endless Night’, a stirring and eclectic collection that serves as the New Zealand duo’s debut album.
Tracing the pair from bluegrass ballads to gospel rock, and oscillating between themes of cynicism and naive hope, the 13-track project sees bandmates Leroy Brown and Mark Bruce mark their arrival with a debut that’s sure to usher in a breakout moment.
The album begins with the whirring country strings of the purely instrumental ‘Intro’, as if The Advocators are setting the scene of the sonic journey still to come.
The spaghetti western licks of that track carry into ‘Elijah’, a frollicking country anthem complete with Brown’s drawly vocals and the twangs of Anita Clark aka Motte’s violin.
It’s the kind of track you’d imagine playing during a line dance in a faraway barn, which feels fitting given that ‘Songs from an Endless Night’ was recorded in a Tomarata barn studio.
While the album is certainly anchored by these sounds, ‘Dreams’ is a showcase of The Advocators’ diversity, heading into alt-rock territory with sparse piano keys and backing harmonies so airy they might just touch the heavens.
Perhaps the clearest example of a ballad, the track finds Brown’s vocals at their most vulnerable, cooing alongside warm guitar melodies and the lulling rhythms of subtle percussion.
Twangy guitars take centre stage on ‘Crows’, another country-flecked entry that is carried by foot-stomping rhythms and shimmering vocal harmonies.
For its part, ‘Amelie’ adopts the grooves of a slow waltz for a tender love song, serenading its subject with aching vocals and an explosion of instrumentation on the stirring chorus.
The storytelling of that track — which sees the duo look back fondly on a former flame — is felt all throughout the tracklist, with ‘Everchanging Sea’ comparing heartbreak and the tumultuous waters of a relationship to the ocean’s changing tides.
The album’s midpoint is a cover of Townes Van Zandt’s ‘Waitin’ Around To Die’, with The Advocators adding an abrasive and gritty edge to the haunting 1968 original.
‘After You’ arrives on a sun-lit bed of enrapturing banjo strings, a dreamy soundtrack for the duo’s tender reflections on what happens in the wake of loss.
Later, Mark’s melodica get it’s time in the spotlight on the tavern-bound and tambourine-friendly ‘Bad Girls’, before ‘Baby Jean’ ventures into pop territory with infectious country licks and a hook destined for infinite replays.
After a cover of Neil Diamond’s ‘Solitary Man’, The Advocators close-out ‘Songs from an Endless Night’ with the album standout ‘Promised Times’, a culmination of their efforts complete with rhythmic guitars, rustic vocals and stirring lyricism around the passage of time.
It’s a worthy conclusion to a sweeping and meticulous album, tracing tales of unrequited love, contempt and redemption as buoyed by The Advocators’ penchant for country, bluegrass and classic rock stylings.
Get swept up in The Advocators’ debut album ‘Songs from an Endless Night’ below.
