Musician Landon Hedges spent the better part of the late nineties/early two thousands playing along side Saddle Creek's most prominent singer/songwriters Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes. Desaparecidos) and Tim Kasher (Cursive, The Good Life). Looking for a more personal creative outlet, Hedge's began writing songs under the moniker Little Brazil. While originally planned as a solo project, Little Brazil quickly evolved into a full band, with Hedges making use of other Omaha natives to fill out the group. After seven years, two full-lengths, and a slew of touring, the four piece have released their most ambitious and successful album to date: Son.
Son examines the hardships of adult relationships and the complications that come with them. Hedges is able to blur the line between storytelling and autobiography, singing heartbreakingly honest songs about divorce, loneliness, and family. Though never catching the raw emotion of Kasher or poetics of Oberst, Little Brazil manages a more focused and grown up take on both their sounds and content. Hitting on both sentiment and pathos while maintaining complete sincerity in the topics, Son is a successful and unique rendition on familiar/universal subjects. The heavy handedness of the lyrics is offset with an upbeat collection of toe-tapping indie rock tunes.
Musically Little Brazil take on a sound that will inevitably see comparisons with bands like Death Cab for Cutie and the aforementioned Saddle Creek favorites. Son sees songwriting typical of the genre, while playing at the revolution Summer sound with the track "Wedding Glass," and hinting at alt-country with the album's highlight "Separated." The record's success is not so much in its innovation, but in its ability to take what so many attempt and remain both compelling and likeable. Though occasionally loosing musicality for the sake of lyricism, Son is a refreshing take on to a stale and predictable format.
