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More so than either of the previous Retsin albums, Cabin in the Woods explores the differences between the two songwriters that make up the duo: Tara Jane O'Neil and Cynthia Lynn Nelson. This isn't a slight, and it's certainly not meant to imply that the album feels fractured. Instead, in all likelihood, the to-and-fro between the two is representative of their growing skill at the songwriting craft. The third longplaying outing for the pair finds them front-porch-comfortable with folksy, folkie, woodsy, near-rustic sounds; soft banjo twang and plucked acoustic guitars forming the rhythmic backing for their breathy singalongs. It's interesting, as the album literally alternates between the songwriters (odd-numbered tracks are Nelson's, even O'Neil's), to hear how the pair's voices work and change shape when they're solo, multi-tracked, or when they're working with and off each other's. Occasionally, the pair let their quiet voices go — O'Neil on "Dog and a Butterfly," Nelson on "Carnival" — but for the most part their crooning is kept circumspect; and this is similar to the tone of the whole. If the record is more comfortable with what are, nominally, more country sounds, that doesn't effect Retsin's innate musical demeanor. Rainy-day melancholy is still the pervading feeling, though this time it's like they've moved from inside in front of the fire to outside under the shelter of the verandah, slowly rocking back and forth on a creaking, weathered chair, watching the rain run rivulets in the dusty soil, the emotional sense of the songs feeling the warmth rising off the newly-wet earth.
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