The Sound of Mountains - The Sound of Mountains (self-released)

If ever there was music made that fully captured the serene yet restless, everchanging, always dynamic nature of the world beyond the towns and cities, it is that made by The Sound of Mountains. With singles such as “Heal My Rage,” “Familiar Locations,” and most recently, the beautiful ambient drift of “Every Burden, Every Crown” already signposting something special was on the horizon, even that terrific triptych didn’t prepare us for just what an amazing album was on the cards.

Blending everything from delicate acoustic folk to searing post-rock intensity, from shimmering indie-scapes to cinematic landscapes, The Sound of Mountains is everything you might expect and much more.

As I have mentioned before, probably too often, but I will do so once more; lyrical music is restrictive, forcing conclusions and ideas on the listener whether they want to go there or not. Instrumental music is a much more liberating experience. And if you think that such music would be too untethered, too unspecific, listen to “Sun in The Water” and tell me that it isn’t about anything other than that solar reflection shimmering across the surface of a lake or ocean. Listen to it and tell me that image doesn’t come to mind. But this isn’t music just about nature, but also music that asks us to reflect on the human condition too, something that seems easier when dwarfed by the grandeur and humbling presence of the natural world.

At the other sonic extreme, songs such as “Wake Up, You Living Gateways!” are grunge-infused and alt-rock energized but still somehow talk of primal forces and nature’s many forms and functions. And then you have “Now is No Time to Think of What You Do Not Have,” which seems to run between folk delicacy and blues electric solos, hushed sonics, and a balance of grace and grandeur.

It is a gorgeous album (a word that gets used a lot around Christopher Morin’s music-making), but anyone who has been paying close attention to his sonic trajectory wouldn’t have expected anything less.

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