Ideally "Painted Legacy" would be coming out ahead of the highly anticipated Unfiltered Intimate Acoustic Tour" which was due to wind its way around the country throughout May. It was to be a chance to strip away the layers of production which have no doubt brought Ward Thomas to a wider audience but in the process perhaps lost some of the magic, with some of the songs becoming a little vaguer, and generalistic as the topics became grander and wider in scope.
"Painted Legacy" represents a complete return to form, coming from their forthcoming "The Space Between" EP, and finds the siblings both writing and singing at the top of their game. The subject matter, the death of their uncle is undoubtedly sad but it has brought out the personal connection much more evident in the songs from earlier albums. The writing is so vivid, you can almost picture them sitting as children, as they sing "Do you remember when you had to learn to braid our hair? It was a mess but you made the best of what was there".
Recorded with acoustic guitars gently supporting the beautifully upfront vocals, with the barest amount of additional instrumentation required, they have, to quote the lyrics "spun pure gold out of the dust". We'll now have to wait until September for the rearranged dates but this really whets the appetite and gives you something to look forward to.