Cymbalick 2024
Soundtracks
Scoring moving pictures of his imagination, Californian auteur manages to stage impressive display of arresting aural figures.
It’s not that Tim Morse has denied himself the pleasures of music-making for the long six years which passed since this Sacramento denizen’s “III” saw the light of day, but his fourth solo album’s been long overdue. Yes, he’s taken a detour into ensemble endeavors – first with "Pale Blue Dot" by original pop-rockers THE MANGOES and then with “Awaken” by the covers-oriented proggers PARALLELS – after "The Archaeology Project" summarized the multi-instrumentalist’s early adventures, yet those lacked his forte: intimacy. Back on track now with such a trademark feature, TM nevertheless can’t stop messing with his listener’s intellect, so – for all the emotional openness of “Soundtracks” – there are quite a few puzzles strewn across the cuts on offer to keep the audience happily intrigued.
Here’s why, perhaps, one may locate a key to this record in its only borrowed number, “Mind Games” by Beatle John, which Morse rendered not too cosmic, if immensely resonant – and, thus, more relatable – via the ingenious use, alongside spacey synthesizers, of acoustic guitar and raga motifs, while the titular ballad finds Tim searching for reality within a solid air of artsy sonics and existential lyrics that propel his voice through constantly changing groove and arrangement. The melodies on display seem cinematic enough to let the public’s fantasy run wild, short opener “Remembrance” suggesting what we hear can be a long-forgotten reverie, but instrumental alchemy on the likes of “Cityscape” whose cold electronic pulses feel so attractive, albeit a tad abstract, is balanced with, well, the fine filigree of “Balance” where folk elements come to the fore, or with the retro-tinged psychedelia of “Blueberry Way” where sweet tune and warm vocals reign supreme. Supreme, although not as regal as the almost mariachi vibe of “By The River” – pastoral and exciting at the same time – and not as solemn as the shimmer of “Broken Compass” or the bass-punctuated oriental glimmer of “Empty Vessels”; still, the big-sky “As Yet Untitled” whose harmonies are sublime, and the impressionistic passages of “Solar Flare” whose fusion leanings are mesmeric show how far this composer’s stylistic scope can go.
So when the piano-encrusted “Deidra” and “Lullaby” arrive at the scene with a six-string lace in tow to wind things down in the most tender manner, the glacially romantic, yet robustly dynamic, “Vortex” is left hanging in the ether to finally suck the spectator in Tim Morse’s universe. It’s the place to be.
****2/3
