Jesse Mac Cormack - Now
Jesse Mac Cormack's album debut arrives as a work of scorching atmosphere, panoramic tumbling melodies and vast lyrical spaces
Inspired by the landscapes of Eastern California's Death Valley and Mojave Desert, Jesse Mac Cormack's album debut arrives as a work of scorching atmosphere, panoramic tumbling melodies and vast lyrical spaces. It is a wide, expansive, palette upon which to paint a debut collection, and Mac Cormack rises to the challenge with a stirring mix of textures and emotions.
Give A Chance opens slowly, hypnotic vocals and a tribal rhythm that leads into the single, No Love Go, a plaintive, wistful lament that recalls the classic soul-baring of Phil Collins' early solo material.
Elsewhere textures are rougher, and the guitars come out to play in Stay, a slice of rock balladry straight out of the Bon Jovi's 'songs-to-sing-in-tight-jeans-on-the-edge-of-a-canyon' masterclass. Yet, following the urgency of title track, Now, the yearning of Ever Go On, and the epic synths in Passageway, Sunday delivers strings and piano and the feeling of a new dawn. To The End serves up a strong melodic finale, and a conclusion to this cleverly constructed journey of mood and disposition.
Already a hero in his native Montreal, Now provides a platform for Mac Cormack's forward-facing brand of modern folk to be more widely appreciated.
7/10
