Those who are already familiar with the music that Chris Murphy puts out under his own name will know him for songs woven from blends of bluegrass and folk, and rock and, well, any other sounds and styles that take his fancy, into upbeat and emotive songs that bridge tradition and modernity, the fresh and the familiar, the deft and the danceable. The sort of thing that translates perfectly into a dynamic and memorable live show.
And if you have experienced him live (and if not, why not?) sometimes, between those sonic celebrations of life, the anthems to heartbreak and resilience, the sing-alongs and the dance tunes, you may have found yourself transfixed by the occasional drifting and delicate, beguiling and beautiful instrumental piece. The chances are that such a tune is part of his Seven Crows repertoire.
Seven Crows is a project through which Chris explores a different side to his music making, one that leans towards the more ambient and elusive, atmospheric and instrumental side of his songwriting. With a new album, Powers of Observation, planned for early next year, he now gives us a first taste via the track and video, “Longing.”
Instrumental music is fascinating to me, a person who makes their living through the written word, because it is a form unburdened by the directness of lyrics, it requires that the music communicate in its own unique way.
A rolling pattern of pizzicato strings acts as a beat and bass line, above which his graceful violin lines speak volumes. Long and lingering notes form and rise and drift off just as he draws more to journey alongside them. The affected nature of those notes allows additional atmospheres and sonic moods to pool and percolate in the spaces between the original notes, as they resonate and rebound, creating a unique soundscape, much more than the sum of its original parts.
As a whole, “Longing,” as you would expect, evokes a feeling of anticipation, of hope and heartache — those moments when the potential happiness of the unknown is preferable to the certainty of knowing — a tune that seems to encompass every ounce of love, loss, and longing that one person can know.
It is music that drifts between keening Irish traditions and classical orchestrations, floats from the ambient to the gently anthemic, from the cinematic to the serene. Fans of, say, Ed Alleyne-Johnson will find lots here to love, but whereas his music is more akin to the vivid brushstrokes of an oil painter, Chris Murphy is far more comfortable painting with the delicate hues, faint lines, and space of the watercolor artist.
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