Released 12.10.09
End of the Road records
The Young Republic met at music school in Massachusetts; they now reside in Nashville, Tennessee and ‘Balletesque’ is an amalgamation of classical training and folkloric storytelling.
Opener ‘Introduction’ flows into ‘The Alchemist’ and is a suitably bombastic beginning for this musical journey; swooping the listener up on the waves of a string crescendo. It is big, and bold and multi-directional; almost like prog, although, thankfully not too much.
There is a lot going on in this record: Julian Saporitti’s deft word-play and vivid descriptive lyrics are enveloped in an explosion of slide guitars, piano and all manner of multi-instrumental wonders throughout.
‘Black Duck Blues’ is dirty and immediate; like a fuller-sounding White Stripes, and one of the more raw tracks from the album.
“Lovely Belinda, burnt to a cinder, I shall be with you some day” Julian promises in the slightly sinister, Nick Cave-esque ‘Napoleon Roses’.
For all its richness and complexity, ‘Balletesque’ is not just a muso’s record. There is enough melody and alt pop sensibility to keep songs like ‘Tidal Wave’ and ‘Autumn in the Trees’ lingering in the memory bank once the album stops. This is an album loaded with ambitious arrangements and dramatic narrative.