When wielded well, music is able to capture moods and landscapes, places and people, environments and thoughts. It is a sign of what a deft and decisive songwriter we have in Mike Cranny that the songs we find on Many White Horses are sea-soaked and tasting of sea salt, that we get a sense of riding over the waters, of the wind on our face as we talk through these nine songs. This is music that evokes an environment and does so brilliantly.
Inspired by a sailing trip around the west coast of Scotland and infused with its waves and waters, coastlines, and estuaries, it is also essentially a solo album rather than a fully collaborative Firestations affair. But I suspect the minimalism and understatement that comes from such an approach is the album’s key.
“All the Way Back Down Here” gently floats along under the power of its own sonic tides, the guitar mimicking the watery ebbs and flows of their surroundings, the flugelhorn (Laura Copsey is the one additional player) floating gently on the breeze, and hazy vocals setting the tone.
There are gorgeous additional found sounds and field recordings – the tones and textures, the spoken voices, and the sounds of the boat of Reading the Water reminding me of Justin Sullivan’s brilliant Navigating By the Stars. not a reference I throw in lightly.
“A Weight Stars to Lift” runs on a ’60s-infused, cosmic folk vibe, “The Castle is Strong” is a dark, brooding, discordant piano-lead instrumental, and “Silversands” ends the album on an ethereal and cinematic high.
Never has music made me want to seek passage on a small boat and head for the Western Isles as much as Many White Horses.
Uplifting, nature-affirming, beautiful.
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