The Ginger Envelope without comments The Ginger Envelope Invitation Air (One Percent) Don’t mistake the Ginger Envelope for another Fleet Foxes wannabe. Just like the ingredient that comprises half its name, the Los Angeles band packs a punch, and on Invitation Air, their latest release, the group proves that they’re a force to be reckoned with. Unlike many other folk or alternative acts, Ginger Envelope’s musicianship never feels overpowering or superfluous-instead, the band manages to meld Patrick Carey’s delicate vocals with mournful riffs a la Wilco. This balance of vocals and instrumentals adds texture and depth to tracks that might otherwise fade into the plethora of similar alt-country groups. One of the most impressive aspects of Invitation Air is its diversity. Ginger Envelope changes tempos, styles, and lyrics deftly, maintaining a unified sound while exploring numerous different tones and genres. The group keeps its folk identity intact while exploring various shades of lyrical simplicity and melody-one track meanders slowly through the mind of a chronic loner, while a few songs later, upbeat banjos and fiddles narrate the story of a swimmer. Throughout invitation Air, the band masters the fine line between inaccessibility and innovation. On “Stray,” it’s hard not to be drawn in by the loneliness inherent in the song’s haunting harmonies and tortured lyrics. “Half Awake (Roddy)” demonstrates the group’s ability to write great, slightly off-beat lyrics as Carey sings, “You stayed half awake and watched the paradigm decay.” While the vast majority of the album is exquisite, Ginger Envelope’s esoteric lyrics occasionally become bogged down in pretension and cultivated eccentricity. “May you curl up tom-cat coddled, and break for more,” Carey sings on album opener “Turn Into Tempests,” loading frustrating obscurity on an otherwise-unblemished record. While it isn’t quite perfect, Invitation Air is by and large a masterful and original effort. Ginger Envelope might initially seem like another run-of-the-mill folk group, but this record makes it clear that the group is capable of accessible innovation that could very well be the ingredient for an enormous success. 

By Diversions Staff Writer Linnie Greene
http://blogs.dailytarheel.com/?tag=the-ginger-envelope

the ginger envelope and madeline are going to be touring together to celebrate the release of two new records this july... if you would like us to play your town let us know and we will surely try to accomodate... dates are currently being confirmed and we cant wait to come share the new songs.....thanks so much to all

the ginger envelope~

Heres the article that was written about us recently... read text only, or click on the link to see the source- "Expelling The Demons: Ginger Envelope Creates Musical Bliss For The Dissatisfied Soul If there's one thing to say about the vocals of Patrick Carey - and the musicians that accompany him - it's that the sounds they produce are positively saturated with feeling, while gliding along on a light but sweetly engaging groove. The Ginger Envelope wowed audiences with that sublime outpouring of dreamily lackadaisical emotion and depth of feeling at shows around town in 2004 and captured it beautifully on a five-track EP recorded with Asa Leffer at Downtown Athens Recording Company late that same year. Now the band - which includes Jason Trahan (guitar), Matt "Pistol" Stoessel (pedal steel), Stephen Miller (bass) and Jason Robira (drums) - continues work on its first full-length CD, made up of entirely new material which Carey describes as being, "along the same lines as the EP, but with some other low-key, darker material that will be somewhat self-produced." The boys plan to start recording the album in March and aim to have it finished by July at the latest - and have their fingers, and toes, crossed that a distributor will come to the party in the meantime. Process and Input Flagpole recently sat down with Carey and Trahan in the Flicker Theatre & Bar, while a freshly cut recording from local jazz outfit Kenosha Kid played in the background. One of the first things that the boys pointed out was that while they've only been playing together in this incarnation for around a year, in one way or another they've been playing together for over a decade. Carey and Stoessel started playing music together in high school, and the other three members were all in the now-defunct local band Urbosleeks, an outfit which Carey and Trahan are quick to praise. Carey is the main songwriter for the group and says, despite some attempts to broaden the load, letting him present the band with complete songs is still the best way they've found to achieve such blissful outcomes. This is in spite of Carey's success working more collaboratively with the other bandmembers on side projects - an independent film score, for example, that he and Trahan wrote together last year and also hope to release in the near future. Carey describes the process and speed with which the band envelops his new songs as being an almost symbiotic experience. Trahan adds, "We've just made this connection. We just know what the others are going to be playing, so it makes coming up with material and arranging a lot easier, because we already have a built-in feel for how each other plays." According to Carey, "Miller and Stoessel are the musical mathematicians in the band, as far as knowing musical form and structure. My only concern is just making sure that the band wants to play the song and that they hear and feel the melodies naturally, and that nobody is trying to force it." Of the sound Carey's aiming for, he says simply, "I'm just trying to channel the misery and happiness, all at once. I think that dissatisfied souls are everywhere and we're all kind of curious what we're doing it for. I don't really know where the music comes from. I don't try and get in the way too much or make it too inner/ personal at all. But naturally it happens that way anyway, that it becomes personal. We never intended to be ‘country' in any way. I think Matt Stoessel being there, with his country influences, is a very strong element. I don't claim any influences as far as what we sound like. I just like to break the boundaries of what we could sound like… with every song." Collaboration's Payoff For vinyl enthusiasts, Ginger Envelope has also teamed up with local indie-folk, pop-rock band Venice Is Sinking to put out a split EP, which was recorded, co-produced and mixed by Robira in his house. Carey says the vinyl project grew out of one particular song that was written and recorded on a boisterous and painful weekend. "It came out of a song that I wrote one night," he says, "after me and Matt Stoessel were drinking whiskey downtown. We walked home together and wrestled on the street and I busted my finger that night attacking him. The very next morning we were going to have practice - on the Sunday - and I got over to the house and no one else could show up. So Robira said, ‘Do you want to cut something?' So I cut the song - called ‘Failsafe' - with a busted finger. "Me and Jason just did it. no one else had heard it. We just recorded the drums and guitar live, then everyone else came in. We're friends with the Venice Is Sinking guys and we just decided that it would be a good example of what things can sound like self-produced. It has kind of the home-grown feeling and a camaraderie, everything [that's] worth keeping alive." Just as with the EP, the members of Ginger Envelope are very coy about charging money for their work and prefer just to see their songs being distributed and heard. In spite of their talent for making impeccably sweet and catchy music, they suffer no delusions of grandeur. Carey is just as humble about his live performance skills and shies away from touring and, as he puts it, "the shameless promotion on the road for something that really is built to be there for people to listen to - rather than experience live. I'd much rather go out of town for the weekend with my buddies and hit two shows and have a blast. The first chance to get out of town we'll take it, but I think I'd much rather focus on creating the actual entity that takes you there." Ben Gerrard"