Adrift by For Wishes (Review)

Twelve years after releasing their debut album, I Will Burn Your Winter, For Wishes has returned with their sophomore effort, Adrift — and the ensuing years have brought little growth or development to their sound. Which isn’t a bad thing because why mess with a sound that’s already so affecting?

For Wishes’ bandleader Steve Swartz is also a member of the excellent Au Revoir Borealis, but For Wishes is smaller and more intimate in scope, with a more acoustic-based, folk-ish sound that contains some shimmering slowcore atmospherics. While much of the music is based around Swartz’s hushed voice and strummed guitar, graceful piano arrangements (“Il Ballerino,” “Runaways”), light organ and synth treatments, and sparse percussion occasionally make themselves known.

There are moments where Swartz fleshes out For Wishes’ sound a bit more, as on the haunting “Bending, Breaking,” but for the most part, this is solid singer/songwriter fare that should easily appeal to fans of Denison Witmer and even Damien Jurado’s sparser material. Or put another way, this is subdued, empathetic music that you should listen to when you need a thoughtful, comforting presence in the room.