Album Review - Mount Eerie: Clear Moon

Mount Eerie
Clear Moon
Rating: Woof Daddy

There is a theory that past, present, and future exists all at once and that our tiny brains cannot handle this complex concept and so it only recognizes the present and unfolds everything in a linear progression. I think sometimes the brain slips and we do get small glimpses of what multidimensional time is actually like, either through deja vu, premonitions, or dreams and nightmares, and these moments are what cause us anxiety, emptiness, loneliness, and melancholy; to know that life is but an instant, happening all at once, vast and extreme, but ultimately, and hauntingly meaningless. Not that this is the overarching concept or meaning behind the new Mount Eerie record Clear Moon, but it was something that kept drifting in and out of my mind while it drifted in and out of head. Part of a two album cycle, Clear Moon is Phil Elverum's first release this year (the second being Ocean's Roar, due in the fall), and is said to be his contemplation of growing up and living quietly in a small northwest town and how brief moments of clarity break through. The record was recorded in a de-sanctified church using only analog equipment, and has a gorgeous other-worldly sound and feel to it. Elverum allows the record to be deeply personal but also universal. We have all at some point in our daily lives been overwhelmed by the vastness of the world and existence, and Clear Moon is almost the perfect encapsulation of those moments.

The record begins almost apologetically with lead track "Through The Trees, Pt. 2," a haunting realization of the impermanence and hopeless loneliness of existence, and that when we pass on, life goes on without us. Elverum hauntingly sings "I've held aloft some delusions/from now on I will be perfectly clear/there's no part of the world more meaningful/and raw impermanence echoes in the sky." The mood of the lyrics is passed through the music as well, the lonely, soft strums of guitar and odd melodies bringing forth allusions to Nick Drake.



This theme of impermanence is continued in "The Place I Live," which is one of the most beautiful songs on the record. Eleverum's voice a hushed, resigned whisper, with old analog synth strings carrying the track, while a lonely, reverberating sigh of strings echoes in and out of the mix. The song recounts images of the town he lives in, noting that "If I look or if I don't look/clouds are always passing over/the place I live."



Nature and weather are also potent themes and images through the record, never predictable but endless and everlasting. The feelings of insignificance among clouds, sky, and thunderstorms deeply touches the narrator of "Yearning Sky." The music is purposeful and somber, featuring one of the most eloquent guitar refrains of recent memory, breaking out of the cloudy mix of droning organs and shuffling percussion like a shard of sunlight. "Over Dark Water" buries itself in feedback laded guitars and inky keyboards, the chorus of female and male vocals, almost Gregorian in structure, overtaking the track as it builds in intensity and force. Nature here is something to fear and hold sacred. Title track "Clear Moon" is a long, methodical track with images of "a stream cutting the world away/the only light the magic clear moon in the black sky" evoking an almost religious fervor.

Clear Moon reminds me so often of the dense production of Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest; the record has a old, yet timeless feel, with the analog warmness rich and inviting. Elverum's instrumentation choices always seem perfect, adding just the right touches to represent a mood or thought. The album is not in a hurry to get anywhere, evoking the slow passage of time in a small town, when sometimes it feels the world will overwhelm you. This feeling is brought to life in "Lone Bell," the schizophrenic keyboards and skittering loops of drums working against the rising mass of horns and Elverum's meandering vocal.



The droning, swirling organs and guitars of "House Shape" are the perfect accompaniment to the impressionistic lyrics of rain and storms echoing the feelings of the narrator inside.



Simultaneously intimate and epic, Clear Moon is breathtakingly realized. It is a record that is a new, more revelatory experience with each listen. Its simplicity belies the intense emotional feelings it provokes. While we are each alone in our existence and have to come to terms with it each in our own way, there is a common bond between us all that provides solace in the face of the vastness of it all. Clear Moon is not only one of the best records of the year, it is a future classic.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.