Review: The Acorn - No Ghost (* * * 1/2)

It’s a risky move releasing a concept album early in your career, but Canada's the Acorn proved quite capable of doing just that with their 2007 sophomore effort, Glory Hope Mountain. That record chronicles the life of singer Rolf Klausener’s mother (whose journey from Honduras included a great deal of drama and adventure) over the course of twelve woodsy folk songs featuring delicate harmonies and intricate guitar signatures, revealing impressive musicianship for such a young group. The songs work both as part of the whole and are engaging individually—no small achievement given the source material—and the record showed the Acorn could be ambitious without overreaching. So while Glory Hope Mountain didn’t make overnight sensations of the band, they gathered enough fans that high expectations were instated for future endeavors. Their third album, No Ghost, appears uninterested in an overarching concept, and in fact feels more modest than their previous release despite its broader stylistic range. It doesn’t quite propel the band forward or equal the considerable quality of what preceded it, but No Ghost is at least an enjoyable entry in the band’s catalog. (Please read the rest of my review @ In Review Online)