Review Summary: Cave in to some nice indie rock
New Idea Society is the long-running collaboration between Steven Brodsky —a total mainstay of the Massachusetts heavy scene thanks to his work in Cave In, Mutoid Man, and his past contributions to Converge and Old Man Gloom — and his friend and musical partner since high school, Mike Law. But unlike all those more metal projects, New Idea Society leans into a more indie rock, singer-songwriter vibe, with a bit of folk /country flair.
Fires On The Hills's opener
“Sharing Arrows” lays out the sound for the album — fuzzy, lightly distorted electric guitars dancing around warm acoustic strums, all with this twangy, Western-tinged tone that immediately sets the album’s dusty atmosphere.
“Giant Sky Wheel” is then one of the tracks which takes things into a dreamier, floaty direction which showcases the duos more introspective side lyrically.
The longer
“Nightbirds” stretches to around six and a half minutes, and while it’s got a lovely little melody, it doesn’t quite evolve enough to justify its runtime. It definitely began to drag on a bit for my enjoyment of a song of this style, but it is pleasant. And honestly,
pleasant is the operative word for the album. The light synths paired with the light electric and acoustic guitars create this soft, calming glow, and Brodsky’s vocals —while they will never blow you away — are warm and easy on the ears. It’s not a record that’s going to crack your AOTY list, nor is it aiming for big emotional catharsis or complex thoughtful arrangements, but if you’re into gentle indie with a country/folk tint, it hits the spot. Something light for your summer playlists.
Thankfully, tracks like
“Lantern” and
“When Morning Comes” pick up the pace with more driving, forward-pushing riffs that stop the album from drifting into pure background-music territory. Lead single
“Dancing Horse” is one of the more spacious and romantic tracks here, with longing lyrics like
“I know it’s there but you want proof”. It gets the tone of the album across well, though part of me wishes they pushed it even further and expanded on it. Still, it’s a very pretty, subtly evolving song with a country-ish vibe. And
“Before Morning” is nice and lush, almost into dream pop territory and acts as a perfect warm-up before that more commanding
“When Morning Comes”.
Overall,
Fires On The Hill is a soothing little side quest for Steven Brodsky— totally outside his usual heavy domain, and it does show at points, but charming in its own low-stakes way. Not essential listening, but very enjoyable for fans of atmospheric, county, twangy indie rock.
