This observation covers two albums in one. That's because, in 2017, The Wind + The Wave released an acoustic version of (part of) their 2016 album. Same title, less electricity involved. It wouldn't seem fair to comment on only one of them.
I discovered The Wind + The Wave, usually described as an 'American roots duo', when watching some old episodes of the Quay Sessions* on BBC iPlayer. I was very late to this party. I've now found out that the band's cover of Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars featured in an episode of Grey's Anatomy (Season 11, which puts that in 2014). My main excuse there is that I've never watched Grey's Anatomy.
Back to the albums though. They're nice - very nice. The 2016 version has 13 tracks, while the acoustic one has only 8, but they're both well thought through and executed records. It's really interesting to be able to compare and contrast versions of songs in this way (I'm guessing I could make a pretty long list of the albums I'd love to see re-interpreted in this way).
I heard the acoustic songs first, and so the additional instrumentation and production on the 2016 album (strings on track 1 for example) really stand out to me - they're like bonus features. I know this is thinking of this all the wrong way round, but that was my experience of the songs and so it's hard to think of it the other way, that the acoustic versions somehow lack certain elements.
Track 5 on the 2016 album is 'Before the world explodes'. This is one of my favourites and it's a shame this song doesn't feature on the acoustic album as I'd like to see how it interprets across. I'm generally I'm not a big fan of more upbeat tunes, but here the lyrics tell a more hollow tale than the tune would first suggest - I like that contrast. (Also I think the mandolin kicking in just before the one-minute mark clinches the deal.) You get a lot of that with this band.
I wanted to avoid commenting on too many of the individual songs, but I have to mention 'Take me back' as it's such a ... firm song. There's drama with piano chord undertones to the building riffs on the verses, bendy guitars, and lots of pounded tom-tom too. To me, this is textbook use 6/8 time signature. This song is also only on the 2016 album (track 7).
Listening for the umpteenth time (and probably over-thinking it) as I got ready to post this, I got the feeling that the production on the 2017 acoustic record maybe sounds just a little bit thin in places - perhaps it needed some more bass in the mix to fill it out, but otherwise it's a well-presented gift pack of songs.
'Grand Canyon' is one of the standout acoustic numbers for me, and in my opinion works better acoustically than with the full production - a bit less grandiose.
The title track appears in fourth position on the album(s) and paints an effective picture of just trying to find a way in life, of what happiness may actually mean.
I was also struck by track 7, 'Lost', which begins with a fabulous line "Whisky, water and an ambien", and then continues with its gentle tale of wandering and returns. I love Lynn's pronunciation of the word 'lost' - to me it initially sounded like "Love hurts" in its laid-back voicing.
The Quay Sessions set is available on iPlayer (or was when I posted this), and I've linked to the both versions of Happiness Is Not A Place below - please go listen to them both. I also recommend the band's album of acoustic covers ("Covers One") - Edge of Seventeen has been on repeat in my house the past week or so, and it's started me off on a bit of a Stevie Nicks tip.
Covers One:
And, before I go, I see that the band have very recently released a digital album of nine songs recorded live in the UK (with a full band). It's only available through the official website: https://www.thewindandthewave.com/shop/live-in-the-uk
* The Quay Sessions is a gem of a show - well done BBC Scotland