NPR

First Listen: The Accidentals, 'Odyssey'

Savannah Buist and Katie Larson got their start as teenagers applying classical instruments to indie-rock earworms. That creative streak remains strong on their major-label debut.

It wasn't all that long ago that the qualities valued most highly in the youthful sectors of folk-pop and folk-rock were earnestness and simplicity. This was music made with minimum fuss — all four-on-the-floor foot stomps, straight-ahead strumming and spirited sing-along choruses.

The Accidentals were surely aware of that movement, though they'd barely reached high school in Traverse City, Mich., when Mumford &. The bookish lyrics of "Odyssey," their new album's cinematic title track, declare a similar penchant for journeying off the path: "But I'm not weak; my brain's a hurricane / Of sky and sea; Poseidon's set a broken / Curse on me; I'm not the one who bleeds / With every odyssey."

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR5 min readIndustries
China Makes Cheap Electric Vehicles. Why Can't American Shoppers Buy Them?
American drivers want cheap EVs. Chinese automakers are building them. But you can't buy them in the U.S., thanks to tariffs in the name of U.S. jobs and national security. Two car shoppers weigh in.
NPR2 min readInternational Relations
Netanyahu's Cabinet Votes To Close Al Jazeera Offices In Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his government has voted unanimously to shut down the local offices of Qatar-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera.
NPR7 min read
Unions Double-down In The Deep South: Can Alabama Pave The Way?
Three high-profile labor disputes have unfolded in central Alabama over the past several years, with Amazon warehouse workers, coal miners and autoworkers all speaking out for change.

Related Books & Audiobooks