“Scud Running” features an entrance heavily reliant on orchestral strings, which isn’t something I expected from an energetic piece like this one. The drumming has me tapping my toes throughout the song, but the guitars that simulated a chorus of bells really brought this track above the others. My favorite part of “Scud Running” falls just under three minutes into the song, when the guitar melodies are altered slightly to lead the final repetition of the song’s opening lyric, “[i]t’s the floor I’m reaching for.”

 

“Prolonged Exposure” opens softer than the rest of the songs with lazy guitar chords that melt into a sustained note in the background. The vocals are more gravelly and deep, yet softer and sadder-sounding at the same time. The song quickly launches forward into a less mellowed-out verse that reminds me of something Citizen would come up with. My favorite part of this track is when “[i]t’s a far cry to say I got away” is repeated twice closer to the end of the song, followed by quiet speaking voices and the main riff being played over and over again until fading into nothing.

 

“Dialect Of” starts off with a sound that is reminiscent of Mutemath’s “Typical,” with the same softer guitar chord progressions expanding into something that continually grows in volume. “I can’t blame you / I’d do the same if I could” reflects the main idea of Clark’s lyrics with this song, revealing his susceptibility alongside his desire to forgive. The only thing that I would change about this song is its lack of musical buildup (and the consequent fall that would accompany that).“Old Souls” begins with thirty seconds of fairly basic guitar parts which remain for the first half of the song. This works well for Prawn, but I’ve grown to expect this sort of slow chaos from this album in particular.  The passage that confesses “[w]e’re old souls in new skin / We’re far from the end just waiting / Waiting to begin” is one of the main reasons why this song really stuck with me. While it could be argued that there were other obviously positive lyrics before this one, I found the lyric to be particularly uplifting. Another reason why “Old Souls” remained on my mind is because of the last 40 seconds, which consist of haunting bass chords that are ripped out without limitations, each being paired with extremely soft, well-sustained guitar tones that left me frozen in place.

 

Besides a CD pressing and a digital version, Kingfisher was released on limited color vinyl. The pressing is limited to 1,500 copies, available on 180 gram black vinyl (limited to 100 copies, sold out), clear with orange and blue splatter vinyl (limited to 200 copies, sold out), aqua blue vinyl (limited to 300 copies, sold out), and orange/bronze A Side/B Side (limited to 900 copies). I’d pick up the remaining variant while you can! Catch them on the first Topshelf Records tour with A Great Big Pile of Leaves, Diamond Youth, and Field Mouse