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Reviewed by Amanda Mills

Into The East: How To Turn A Blind Eye

Reviewed by Amanda Mills

Into The East: How To Turn A Blind Eye

Into The East were Invercargill duo Graeme Wooller and Liv McBride – two vocalists, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists whose style orbited around the alt-country/folk axis. ‘How To Turn A Blind Eye’ is their second album, released just as the duo go their separate ways. Combining stomping rhythms, a big alt-country sound, acoustic folk, and lovely harmonies, the album is epic in scope, showcasing Wooller and McBride’s range of talents, as well as those of their band, including Dan Harrison (percussion and drums), Jim Crawford (double bass), and Simon Thompson on guitars. The sparse title song has beautiful harmonies, a bittersweet story, melancholic melody, and slashing guitars to underscore the message. Murder The Night starts off simple, and becomes an anthemic alt-rock song. There are occasionally lags across the 13 tracks, though it all comes into its own when the rhythmic elements kick in. There’s a sonic tension between the acoustic, quieter songs, and the more raucous tracks, which (while mostly alt-country) start to have a rock tendency. This pulls the album in two directions, with no sure view of where the music should be heading. The happy medium of styles is Sand Of Stars, which is texturally and aurally distinctive through a building up of instruments and harmonies. As an ‘au revoir’ to their fans this certainly satisfies, but indicates there was more in this duo than met the eye.