The notes transpose themselves across registers and varying keys. Our mood profoundly shifts when the first nylon string is plucked. Melodies move like well-oiled swing sets. Symbiotic ambience hums and gestures back to past Wilderness of Manitoba or Evening Hymns records that we used to study to.
But I have yet to successfully multitask to the songs on Arctic Radio. Matt Cully’s latest genius, EONS freezes us precisely between the interplay between fingerpicked acoustic guitars and the ambient, at times spirited electric slides. His melodies, although thoughtfully composed, are given their brilliant flavour with the voice of Misha Bower. We must all take time to celebrate the Sabbaths that Bruce Peninsula take, which shed light on the distinctive songwriting avenues within the collective. From Ivy to Cully, Bower to Snowblink, the group has blessed us.
From the honest questioning of “Red Writhing Hands,” to the jocund crescendos of “Chair On Fire,” the album’s country flare has just enough richness of soul. “I’m Dying Mother” is a holy duet complete with bouncing tambourine and rousing banjo, and the gates of heaven seem to open. Songs like this make the 99 cents on iTunes seem like criminal activity. Lyrically and stylistically, Cully is hearkening back to an art form that is thick with history and steeped in spiritual resonance.
EONS approaches the questions with trepidation, the hymns with gentle vibrato, and aims for the sonic quality that opens blind eyes and shakes the stiffest of the principalities and powers.
http://mattcully.bandcamp.com
