Review

The fragile songs — and hearts — of four of our favorite indie rock songwriters.
The maestros of melancholy — Vic Chestnutt, David Bazan of Pedro the Lion and Headphones, Mark Eitzel of American Music Club and Will Johnson of Centro-Matic — unite as the Undertow Orchestra, documenting heartache and hesitance and hope deferred. Though it's tempting to paint them with a broad brush, the four songwriters actually cover vastly different terrain. Chestnutt is pure Southern Gothic, with dry country strumming and a wry, smartass outlook. Bazan is all religious guilt and masochism, spindly indie rock and yawped, task-taking vocals. Eitzel is a crooner, the Johnny Mathis of ghostly folk who lays his heart bare time and time again. And Johnson is bedroom balladeer, crafting big weepers with a decidedly lo-fi approach. Call them troubled troubadours, four guitar slingers with heavy hearts and worried minds. Grab this sampler while it's free, from now until the tour ends on March 1st.