Carbon Leaf Cottage: Songs by the Sea

Love, love is everywhere

This special package is a two hour long set of their greatest songs performed in a live studio setting, sans a live audience. Literally played in a studio located near the ocean, the backdrop is the surf and the sun, in a cozy little room as they play their best material. CD1 is performed "plugged in", and in this way a lot of the songs are familiar but with an added flair of experience making some of these songs sound even more matured than on their revamp series. CD2 is all unplugged, and while some of these songs already appeared on the first CD, hearing the stripped back and more tender delivery is very heartwarming especially on the track "Block of Wood".

The impressive aspect of this was their inclusion of some deep cuts that are not always played live either, so hearing them done in this way is a special treat to my ears. This also came with a Blu Ray so you can watch along too, much like with the 2011 Acoustic live album.

This collection of live tracks is perfect to me, it's an amazing listen as a lifelong fan to hear my favorite group of guys just breeze through these tunes and recontextualize their meanings and moods just through subtle changes and embellishments. This is more than enough to hold one over until their most recent 2025 studio LP.

Bravo boys <3