Constant Follower The Smile You Send Out Returns To You

Sometimes, it seems like happenstance that the environment in which an album takes shape can perfectly embody the mood it aims to evoke. Such is the case with the Scottish trio Constant Follower, whose second release came together in a remote cabin in the town of Callender during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rewarding in its patience, the songs the band sculpts don't rely on ambiance as a crutch. While powerful in themselves, they provide a clearer image of songwriter Stephen McAll's distressing past.

McAll doesn't dwell on the consequences that set him back. Instead, he looks ahead with some optimism as he plays a delicate fingerpicking arrangement on the ethereal title track, believing that there's goodness in people despite how ugly the world can be. Similarly haunting is Almost Time To Go, in which McAll implores in the simplest of terms to let himself go over the use of somber synth swells -- evoking a similar tone to Radiohead's How to Disappear Completely. The melancholic instrumentation is more layered than their debut's more compact tracks, where the band opts to let these songs breathe and expand to their fullest.

While Constant Follower doesn't strictly follow a post-rock template, they try to hit the emotional high of bands like The Twilight Sad and Stars of the Lid on All is Well. It's comparatively subtle in its approach, but it's just as impactful all the same—done minimally with the use of a twinkling crescendo and steady drum accents—as McAll and vocalists Amy Campbell and Kathleen Stosch beautifully harmonize about embracing the often futile, but otherwise essential, passage of time. The band might've embraced richer sonics throughout, but there are traces of their more established folk beginnings on Patient Has Own Supply, a more cryptic ode to self-reliance that moves at a more structured pace.

McAll's backstory, which involves an assault that left him with long-term brain trauma, might've been a conduit for him to explore his challenging road to recovery. And while it's ultimately implied in his songwriting, as any life-altering event can, his fragmented poetic form achieves a rare balance of hope and despair that anyone can relate to. Unlocking his truth in mysterious ways, McAll, along with his bandmates, achieves something greater in The Smile You Send Out Returns to You -- an equally expansive and intimate statement that considers the pieces that shape one's life with a gentle yet discerning eye.