The
singularly small-minded compulsion to invoke the Greek financial
crisis in discussion of Moa Bones’ sophomore album is one I’ve
been wrestling with in the composition of this review, unfair as it
is to the artist and music with which the troubles bear little
figurative relation. It is with trembling hands, then, that I let go
of the news, and all of the smarmy lines I could have drawn from
recession to singer-songwriter (however clever they might have been),
and instead pull focus to the rightful protagonist of this piece: Moa
Bones, a.k.a.: Dimitris Aronis. 'Spun'
was entirely written, produced and recorded by the man behind the
nom-de-plume in his Athens bedroom between the months of August 2014
and January 2015, with the exception of some guest harmonica on one
track. From this decidedly lo-fi approach, one might usually expect
the kinds of hiss, fuzz and smothering reverbs you’d find in a
Youth Lagoon demo or a poorly-mixed Grouper album. But Aronis
manages instead to produce an unanticipated freshness, where the
drums sizzle, vocals float and instruments reside in their own
special places; he sidesteps the murky precepts of his
contemporaries.
A
perhaps unwanted side effect of that is that attention is brought
specifically to the
production. The more obvious lo-fi moments can no longer be
considered artistic quirks but instead genuine mistakes; to strive
for the clear, sharp sound that Aronis does is to aim for a certain
professional standard which sadly cannot be reached in a bedroom, and
isn’t reached by 'Spun'.
It’s a small thing, but 'Spun'
is caught in an unfortunate catch-22: too well-produced to be truly,
enjoyable lo-fi; too lo-fi to be audiophilically slavered over. The
album is interlaced with a certain bluesy swank, shifted into a major
key and often brings to mind an impassioned Paolo Nutini
rabbit-hopping before the microphone. Indeed, much of the album
seems to take notes from the excitable pop star – 'Spun'’s
opener ‘The Journey’ is a bombastic start, subsuming the
riches-to-rags blues-storytelling tradition in the poppy gloss of his
production, while later track ‘Hey’ rests on the swing-folk
stereotypes through which Nutini is perhaps best understood, bringing
in some good old-fashioned bluegrass and calling to mind a
well-adjusted nephew of Seasick Steve.
Between
and beyond these two tracks, though, are thoroughly darker moments in
the music. ‘Take It All Away’ is an album highlight; it swings
and swoons with the laze of Howling Bells and the grumble of Mark
Lanegan, building into a dense wall of instrumentation drawing Phil
Spector’s loudest to mind. ‘Long For A Change’, ‘Skopelitis’
and ‘Come On’ signify a gear-shit down into stripped
singer-songwriter fare, each demonstrating a certain competence –
‘Come On’ is another album highlight in its tenderness of concept
and construction. It is with these quieter moments that Aronis’
production is most flattering, as vocal harmonies and organ
accompaniments elicit a warmth not found in those Spector-moments
that pepper the work. Closing track ‘Wake Up’ is a hopeful song,
with the ochre of '60s Americana muddled in with modern taste. In
all, 'Spun' is
an odd one. At times it can be a little saccharine, but these times
are made up for by moments of genuine and unique inspiration. It’s
a promising sophomore, for sure.
Moa Bones' website
Buy the album
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