San Francisco's Needle started in 2006 when they released their debut album, Songs Your Mother Never Sang You, followed by the EP Saint Timothy's which came out in 2012. The band now return with their second full length, The Long View, which like their previous EP it was mastered by super-producer Kramer (Low, Galaxie 500), and includes the prominent contribution of Dana Colley (Morphine, Twinemen) on saxophone.
The band's lo-fi rock/slowcore sound takes cues from the genre's forefront such as the aforementioned Low and Galaxie 500, as well as the more Americana-bent Cowboy Junkies and The Walkabouts, while Colley's involvement on sax can't help but bring to mind the nocturnal genius of Morphine, especially on tracks like the melodious, powerful album closer, The Last of Light, whose sweet melancholy dwells both in the acute instrumentation, and the warmth of the steady and very much expressive vocal delivery.
"In the same way that a dormant desert seed has known water will eventually come, The Long View is about awakening from a long slumber and reclaiming oneself after being lost and forgotten on the outskirts." the band describe the new record's intent, as they keep evolving as one of the genre's disregarded secrets.
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