CR and the Nones - The Ghosts Are Coming Home (Magic Door Records)

The Ghost Are Coming Home may only be the second album from New Jersey’s CR and the Nones, but the album sits at the head of a masterful body of work to date. Not least of which includes five albums under the moniker CR and The Degenerates, two of which form the band’s core with the titular CR, known to his friends as Chris Gennone.

From the get-go, as you dive into the opening title track and the hazy, ethereal “The Long Game” (both already unleashed as singles), it becomes evident that this isn’t just music crafted by seasoned hands; it’s an art born from individuals with a unique creative and musical vision.

Of course, one of the problems with having the two recent singles as your opening one-two sonic sucker punch is that you run the risk of accusations of delivering a front loaded album. You are also making your own opening gambit a hard act to follow. Thankfully, nothing is further from the truth here, and as you wade deeper into the album’s warm and soothing waters, the high standards set over those two songs are maintained and then built upon.

“Mind and Body” offers a superb showcase of the slow, soulful soundscapes they sculpt here – spacious, ethereal, drifting, and downright delectable. It covers a vast sonic canvas fashioned only from mere hints of instrumental chimes and shimmers. On the flip side, “Side Eye” grooves with a more conventional alt-country flavour. While it may seem familiar in its essence, it dares to push the boundaries within its genre, resulting in something you might have encountered before but never quite in this sublime form. It’s an expertly constructed and brilliantly delivered piece.

In the grand tradition of truly exceptional musicians (and creatives in general), CR and the Nones aren’t aiming to reinvent the musical wheel. Instead, they take the familiar threads of scenes, sounds, and styles they adore and push them to their absolute limits. In this process, they establish fresh benchmarks and new modes of thought while still breaking new ground within their musical pasture.

In simpler terms, folks, this is an album brimming with seriously brilliant songs. Maybe I should’ve just started with that.

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The Ghosts Are Coming Home
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