Red Apple Falls

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• 

  1997

  James

  Red Apple Falls is the moment SMOG’s murky bedroom aesthetic expands into something genuinely beautiful. The songs remain strange and emotionally bruised, but fuller arrangements give Callahan’s songwriting a newfound warmth and depth. His voice still sounds detached, yet that detachment makes the occasional flashes of tenderness hit much harder. There’s an incredible balance between folk-like simplicity and an almost dreamlike atmosphere throughout the record. Songs such as “Ex-Con” and “Blood Red Bird” reveal a songwriter becoming increasingly interested in melody without sacrificing his peculiar perspective. Red Apple Falls feels like the beginning of the classic SMOG sound.