Parasol Records
2005
Circling The Sun
About This Album
The Orange Peels' third album, 2005's Circling the Sun, is their best album yet, which is really saying something considering the strength of their brief discography thus far. Wonderfully sugar-coated with a melancholy heart, the record glides past on waves of gently strummed guitars, swooning Mellotron strings, and heavenly vocal harmonies. Main Peel Allen Clapp comes up with his finest batch of songs here, too. His melodies are crisp and clean, the lyrics perfectly wistful, and the arrangements never less than lovely. The record is mostly made up of midtempo ballads like the '70s AM radio-ready "So Right" and "Boy in Space," the dramatic and emotional "Long Cold Summer," and the wonderfully sweeping "How Green the Grass." The Orange Peels have really managed to get the most out of their sound, filling each nook with smooth sonic detail but never to the point of academic exercise, the emotion and depth flowing through the walls of sound at all times. Along with the songcraft and arrangements, credit has to go to Clapp's vocals, which have sometimes stood apart from the music in the past, as he doesn't have the usual breathy croon that goes with this kind of pop.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,5,8,9 and 10)

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