A review from Twoblock.net
I've recently lamented the loss of bands that explored a certain sound that I considered to be one of the more promising ones in the last decade, that of dream-pop. I'm a sucker for airy female vocals, delayed, arpeggiating guitar work, melodic bass and spare percussion, the sounds made known in the early to mid 1990's by bands like Siddal and Love Spirals Downwards. Out of nowhere though this stuff seemed to disappear entirely but left an indelible mark on me...

Enter Florida's Autumn's Grey Solace. When I first read about them, I thought it was too good to be true: comparisons to Siddal, LSD, and Cocteau Twins! Breathy female voices! Minor chord guitars! No, it just couldn't be what it was made out to be. Then I received their debut self-released CD, Within the Depths of a Darkened Forest...

The remarkable opening track, "Resonant Dusk", makes it very clear that this duo, consisting of songwriter/guitarist Scott Ferrell and keyboardist/vocalist Erin Welton, while they have not forgotten what was happening a few years ago are not content to just imitate. The title of the song is very appropriate. The guitars chime and resonate a beautiful melody, glissing at just the right moments while Erin's angelic-yet-strong voice lilts and shimmers over the song, conjuring up images of the approaching nighttime. A similarly sublime mood is brought forth on "Cast to the Seas in Storms". Major and minor chord guitar interplay (my favorite!) and an extremely smooth, engaging vocal line float over the ethereal backdrop created by the keyboards, wide-open bass tones and drum patterns. It's hazy out there, but it's not bleak.

Though a few of the tracks have much to be desired melodically, "Forgotten, Fossilized, Archaic" and "Reflections of Falling Leaves", in particular, sound winded and/or too emulative, the most perfect ones are towards the end of the disc. With its arpeggiating acoustic pickings, layered vocalisms and a near-pop tune, though still wrapped in gauze, "Lost" is a flat-out dreamy delight. The closing title track has a dissonant guitar note that scrapes against the gossamer sheen of the gorgeous verse, but I wouldn't have it any other way. The chorus is monumental, really, reaching heights of beauty that I thought were long gone. And "Eve" is just simply a stunner, definitely forecasting the future of dream-pop, which according to this track looks real nice.

In all, Autumn's Grey Solace exhibit a professionalism and strength not often seen in debut self-releases, you'd swear they've recorded a few albums before this one. The songs, for the most part, are fully realized and brilliantly executed, and Erin's voice is, simply put, breathtaking and not in any way generic. A fabulous debut.-Thor

A review from Aerosol Records
Consisting of only two members: Scott Ferrell (which makes all the music) and Erin Welton (lyrics and voice). From the opening track I was very impressed, with warm, soft sounds mainly from the great guitar work of Scott, he uses various layers of guitars to achieve this superb dreamy sound. The bass and drums are left a little bit in the background but I noticed a great effect: The low mix of the drums with the added reverb gives a great sense of space to the music, and although the bass is also a little on the low side of the mix, the soft melodies can clearly be heard.

On to the voice of Erin Welton, which is incredible. Her singing style reminds me of a few New Age artists, but this album is nowhere near that genre, it is actually hard to place AGS within a certain category. Extremely atmospheric and sometimes even hypnotic, it is very relaxing and soothing music.

Spacepop is the closest I can get to categorize AGS' music, although it also sounds folksy and again the voice adds a little New Age touch. Actually, the voice and singing of Erin Welton is the first that I've heard resembling that of Harriet Wheeler (from the Sundays).

This whole CD is an excellent piece of work, AGS has a great sound and I would advise anyone who likes dreampop/spacepop music to get this CD. -Jose Banuelos