Towards the Sun

As on his 2006 full length debut, Time Without Consequence, Towards the Sun features quiet and sublime music that sounds like it was created in and for the wee hours. Scotsman Alexi Murdoch recorded these tracks on acoustic guitar one night while on tour and then had Beirut’s Jon Natchez, the National’s Kyle Resnick, and a few other musicians add overdubs later. This approach captures the intimacy and immediacy of the songs while also allowing for a fuller sound. In this context fuller still means understated and subtle and the backing musicians do much to support Murdoch’s flowing melodies and hypnotically repetitive guitar picking. The ghostly piano notes near the end of the title track and throughout “Slow Revolution,” the delicate horns of “At Your Door” and “Crinan Wood,” and the light percussion featured on “Some Day Soon” all prove to be essential touches. Though subdued, Murdoch is confident and secure musically, his rich voice filled with longing as he delivers poetic lyrics that are introspective without being sentimental.