quot;Witching and Divining is Swallows' most expansive work to date, featuring haunting folk tales brought to life by arrangements that incorporate American roots and blues, tribal beats and old world traditional music.... A little prog rock, a little classical, a little old Sabbath-type metal, a little Old World folk. Here's an album with the same feeling as a 70s classic and the same sound as a 90s epic.... The album is an amazing alchemy of roots music, often dark but never depressing and consistently exciting.quot; ONE OF THE TOP 10 LOCAL ALBUMS OF 2012 - Hymie's Vintage Records 'Pretty fantastic.... A rowdy group with a folk style that reminded me a lot of Trampled By Turtles.' - Natalie Gallagher, City Pages (Mpls./St. Paul) City Pages' Best Local Albums of 2012 (Staff Picks) - quot;A complex combination of American roots and Old World folk music... [Swallows] new LP, Witching & Divining, captures them like a firefly trapped in a jar. Each song is steeped in folklore, feeling at times like an interpretation of John Lomax's legendary field recordings.... The result is alternately reminiscent of Tom Waits and of contemporary revivalists Mumford & Sons, while retaining a dense, organic sound entirely unique to Swallows.quot; - City Pages (Mpls./St. Paul) quot;A record that sounds like autumnal weather, The Swallows' Witching & Divining blends raspy-voiced frontman Jeff Crandall's dark story songs with hard, cold blasts of cello, accordion and guitar that fall somewhere between rootsy punk and Celtic folk.quot; - Chris Riemenschneider, Minneapolis Star Tribune quot;It's all rather splendid.... 'Long Long Shadow', 'High Water' and the title track amongst some of the finest you'll hear this year. The arrangements are pretty well faultless.... It's the kind of thing that gives folk-rock a good name, a million miles away from the twee vacuousness of pop-folkers like Mumford & Sons.... Give this to the teeny folker in your life, and change their view of music forever.quot; - Stuart Hamilton, Zeitgeist (Edinburgh, Scotland) The Mad Mackerel's Best of the Month (January 2013): 'The rasping, gravelly vocals, sombre cello and chanted junkyard chorus on 'The Winnowing' call to mind Tom Waits and The Wicker Man in equal measure. It is a combination we are liking rather a lot.' - John Grain, The Mad Mackerel, Descrier (Oxford, England) quot;The group has a great sound that blends influences ranging from Tom Waits to Rusted Root to Widespread Panic.... A review of the instrumentation underscores some of the unique sounds the band incorporates into it's music: cello, mandolin, djembe, washboard, trash can, pipe, wok, sandpaper, melodica, marimba and, of course, electric and acoustic guitars, drums and bass. Check out the opening jam 'Long, Long Shadow,' the Tom Waits-inspired 'The Winnowing,' the cool, haunting 'High Water,' and the jazzy vibe of 'Walk Down.' That list doesn't even include my early favorites 'Rattle Them Bones,' 'Brigid's Cross,' 'Roam' and 'Seismic.'... If you're looking for a fresh local sound, I highly recommend checking out Swallows.quot; - Karl Leslie, St. Cloud Times (St. Cloud, MN) quot;An album should always be an experience that takes the listener through a journey throughout the album and Witching & Divining definitely steps up in this area..... What's happening here is a solid album that roams around in a realm of moody grittiness but shines through here and there with subtle beauty and mystery.quot; - Paul Whyte, Duluth Reader 'BEST folk I've ever heard.' - KQAL-FM 8
