Fans of Okkervil River may not have realistically been expecting a new album from Will Sheff – his stock seemed in decline and it felt like either a sea-change was needed or the band would drift away. The reset of the regular band did dissolve into the real world but Sheff eventually hit a purple patch of writing that formed the basis for Away. It is Sheff sounding more wistful than ever. The bombastic is stripped back to elegant and ornate compositions with strings and rich, warm production. He’s talked of the process as also one of re-building his adrift life and you can certainly sense and hear that. It’s a raw and emotionally vital album that may be called Away yet is the closest we’ve ever got to the true Will Sheff.

Chris Familton