Secret Cities - Walk Me Home
by Mark Rowland
published: 17 / 6 / 2014

Label:
Western Vinyl
Format: CD
intro
Eclectic but intelligent latest album from epic-sounding American outfit, Secret Cities
Secret Cities is a loose-ish sort of band, with all the members working remotely together for the first years of the band’s existence. ‘Walk Me Home’ represents the first time the band had got together to record since they first met nine years ago. ‘Walk Me Home’ is the product of the three members’ divergent tastes. At a basic level, the resulting music would probably appeal to fans of Arcade Fire and the Shins, sharing both the former’s layered atmospherics and the latter’s way with a 60’s-inflected pop melody. There’s also a little 50’s rock and roll balladry in there, and perhaps a touch of Scott Walker. For all the disparate influences, however, at its heart is great, intelligent pop music. Upbeat demi-soul number ‘Bad Trip’ is a standout, as is ‘Playing with Fire’, which starts of sounding like a ballad in the Roy Orbison ballad before taking off in unexpected directions. The title track is an epic, sweeping song that starts of dressed in’ Sung Tongs’-era Animal Collective clothing, before shedding them to embrace its own epicness. It doesn’t all work – ‘Thumbs’ doesn’t quite hold together, though it has good bits to it and ‘Paraside’ sounds a bit too close to Arcade Fire in places, but overall, the band succeeds.
Track Listing:-
1 Purgatory2 Bad Trip
3 Paradise
4 The Rooftop
5 Interlude
6 Thumbs
7 Playing With Fire
8 Walk Me Home
9 The Cellar
10 Interlude 2
11 It’s Always Summer
12 It’s Always Winter
13 Sun Enclosure
Band Links:-
https://www.facebook.com/secretcitiesmusichttp://secretcitiesmusic.com/
https://twitter.com/secretcitiesss
Label Links:-
http://westernvinyl.com/https://instagram.com/westernvinyl/
https://twitter.com/westernvinyl
https://www.youtube.com/user/westernvinyl
https://www.facebook.com/westernvinyl
most viewed articles
current edition
Peter Doherty - Blackheath Halls, Blackheath and Palace Halls, Watford, 18/3/2025 and 21/3/2025Armory Show - Interview with Richard Jobson
Liz Mitchell - Interview
Deb Googe and Cara Tivey - Interview
Lauren Mayberry - Photoscapes
Max Bianco and the BlueHearts - Troubadour, London, 29/3/2025
Garfunkel and Garfunkel Jr. - Interview
Maarten Schiethart - Vinyl Stories
Clive Langer - Interview
Sukie Smith - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Davey Woodward - Mumbo in the JumboNigel Stonier - Wolf Notes
Wings - Venus and Mars
Kate Daisy Grant and Nick Pynn - Songs For The Trees
Only Child - Holy Ghosts
Neil Campbell - The Turnaround
Philip Jeays - Victoria
Darkness - Dreams On Toast
Suzanne Vega - Flying With Angels
Charles Ellsworth - Cosmic Cannon Fodder
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart