Acrobat: The Unbelievable Truth

For the members of Acrobat, it’s been a long road to their debut full length The Unbelievable Truth. After seven years of gigging around the city of Montreal under the moniker of Brighton, reaching out to various U.S. hotspots, and releasing a few EPs, the core songwriting team of Nathan Wilson and Phil White refocused their revision and were reborn as Acrobat. But their former band name after the coastal English city perhaps isn’t too far off in describing their sound. Falling somewhere between the delicate, emotional songwriting of Travis and the sonic bombast of Elbow, Acrobat’s carefully crafted sound is nearly stadium-ready. Lead singer Nathan Wilson is blessed with a powerful set of pipes that are a formidable force, one that can even at times distract from the group’s already intense wall of sound. Together with Phil White, they have penned a solid debut that establishes a firm footing for the group to further expand their sound. Though it is apparent the band is still operating on a limited budget, they have not only the ambition, but the talent that promises future recordings will branch out in exciting directions. The disc isn’t without it’s flaws — the lyrics are sometimes substandard, and by the end of the disc there are a couple of tracks that blend indistinguishably into one other — but for now, The Unbelievable Truth is a concrete first step for a group with boundless potential.