Familial

Familial is an acoustically plucked, feet-on-the-ground record, Selway's fragile and inviting voice a delightful match for his slightly anxious, if misplaced, self-doubt. [Sep 2010, p.98]

These largely acoustic songs, occasionally embellished with electronics and other effects, are geared for a quiet evening spent alone. Subtle, touching albums like this should be made more often, preferably by Selway and his associates here.

Consequently Familial initially seems timid, even half-hearted, but persistence reveals an album full of sweet sentiment and honest meditations.

Familial's far from brilliant, but you-snotty brat of the Radiohead generation, lapping up the languor of both Wavves' bong-odored holidays and the admittedly strange sight of Matt Berninger's kid on his shoulders-would do well to turn the dial of your irony meter from "post-post" to "zero" for a half an hour or so.

Familial is a solo album that has qualities you might not have expected to begin with: vivid, memorable lyrics that describe a variety of emotions, its incredibly soft arrangements and, of course, the fact that he can actually sing, proving wrong the famous 'drummers are not frontmen' rock'n'roll myth in the process.

Familial (Nonesuch), Philip Selway's solo debut, is more like a warm, delicate nest. Surrounded by pastoral acoustic guitars and whisper-level electronics, Mr. Selway--who wrote all the songs and farmed most of the drumming out to Glenn Kotche of Wilco--sings in a breathy, almost maternally soft voice about seeking peace and raising children.