CD Review – Milagres (Music for mountain climbing?)
Seven Summits
Self-Released
The debut album from the artist formerly known as The Secret Life of Sofia is not only really well-done indie-rock, but the concept itself should bring listeners in. Each of the 11 tracks is a mountain climbing story that lead singer Kyle Wilson picked up from guides, history books and other climbers. The opener, “Fifty Fourteeners” sounds a lot like Blitzen Trapper while they do their best Death Cab for Cutie on “Government Lakes.” “Nepal, 1905 is about Aleister Crowley, who pulls a gun on the climbing expedition’s leader, forcing him to stay in the tent and he watches as his entire party is killed in an avalanche farther up the mountain. “Weathering” is another take on Jon Krakauer’s book “Into Thin Air,” but from the point-of-view of a deceased expedition member.
The most heart-wrenching story is that of Wili Unsoeld, who named his daughter “Nanda Devi” after a Himalayan peak and subsequently watched her fall to her death while climbing that exact peak as an adult.
A perfect combination of indie, history and historical fiction, Milagres is that one group you can drop on your friends and they will thank you for it.
