With their contemporary take on pastoral British folk, jazz, and indie rock, Modern Nature made a brisk ascent to critical acclaim in 2019. After a sparsely appointed introductory EP, they unveiled their full-length debut in August of that year, sounding like a strange amalgam of Pentangle, Tortoise, and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. Less than a year later, the band add another volume to their slim catalog with Annual, a cyclical mini-album loosely based around frontman Jack Cooper's diary of a single year. More free association than direct narrative, Annual is cloaked in poetic observations of the natural world set to a gently rippling soundtrack of ruminative electric guitar, double bass, drums, and saxophone. Nods to Britain's ancient past add to Annual's vintage folk-rock allure, but unlike the Maypole dances of olde, Cooper's "Mayday" is a cool and jazzy rite of spring urging participants to "shake, shake, shake it." Across its seven tracks, the seasons pass in a sort of musical meditation of hushed improvisation and gently shifting shadows. American singer/songwriter Itasca adds her vocals to standout, "Harvest," adding a complementary element to the otherwise spare arrangements. While occasional echoes of Cooper's former band, Ultimate Painting, still reverberate here and there, Modern Nature feels miles away in tone and thematic continuity, and the earthbound gaze suggested by their name is held unwaveringly throughout each of their three records. While not quite as immediate or diverse as their full-length debut, Annual slots in nicely among their rapidly expanding body of work. ~ Timothy Monger, Rovi

1		Dawn
2		Flourish
3		Mayday
4		Halo
5		Harvest
6		Ritual
7		Wynter

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