Review: Julian Lynch - Terra

Julian Lynch - "Canopy"

Delivered just a year after his breakout second LP, Terra returns to the sounds that made Mare such an enriching affair, while subtly manipulating the sound with a range of new instruments and energies. While these new techniques do help a little to differentiate this record, the feeling is still one of comfortable familiarity and quiet self-discovery.



This feeling of familiarity does not ring through on the first song, the title-track "Terra", it should be noted. In fact, from the first song, it's apparent that Lynch desires to stretch out the sounds into a more elastic and fun form. From the opening seconds of the newly brought to the foreground saxophone, to a very appreciated harmonica bridge, and ending with synthed-out guitars, this sounds like Julian Lynch in his most concentrated form. It's an immediately refreshing change of sound. However, this is not the sound that the album settles into.

If there's one thing that can be credited to Terra, it has a remarkable ability to subtly change vibes from song to song, while never straying from the down-tempo, soft jams that Julian Lynch is known for. Many songs have an unmistakable cool jazz sound to them, such as "Water Wheel One" and "Two". There's some songs where Lynch seems to be truly experimenting with his sound. The lightest one being "Disappointment", which is a buzzed out, slow crooning song. Probably the biggest highlight to the album, both from an experimentation perspective and one of just pure enjoyment, is "Ground." For a song with such a title, this is a very spacey piece. As tiny background sounds fizzle, the melancholy saxophone progresses into a razor sharp synth melody fit seemingly for the afterlife. The album only returns to that beginning feeling of restrained freedom in the last song, "Back", which again returns the laser-sounding synths along with a satisfying guitar strum.

As nice as this album is, there is a problem lying underneath the stoic atmosphere. It's apparent that Julian Lynch has a unique sound, one which he's utilized in the past and on this album in full. It's also readily apparent that more can be done with the sound. Two of Terra's biggest faults are in the very beginning, "Clay Horses" and "Fort Collins", which seem to just repeat Mare's meandering, yet serene songs. It's not a terrible folly, but one that is a bit disappointing after such a good start to the album.

As always, Lynch's falsetto vocals are steadily sweet, and there's a bit more of them in this album than in Mare. Like much of the album, though, they seems to be a repeat of Mare. The exception is "Canopy" which finds Lynch in two separate vocal tracks, one higher pitched, and a normal pitched one. Here it has to be recognized that the production on Terra is stronger, but not by much, nor does it need to be. Bringing out the saxophone and hand-beaten drums really make the songs pop, and brings something new to songs that might seem not too far from Mare. What the production really accomplishes here is given the songs a floating atmosphere. If the album is going for a rustic, earthy feeling, as titles like "Terra", "Clay Horses", and "Ground" seem to indicate, it's not that you're on the ground, as much as flying high above them, removed, yet involved with what you're seeing.

Overall, it's a strong follow-up to Mare. If you enjoyed Mare, this is nothing here you wont also enjoy. It's in no what way worse than Mare, and being a bit more focused, it's quite possibly better. You wont find yourself as ready to put it on as background music as you might have with Mare, so that's a very good thing. The need for experimentation on this album isn't huge, so it's not a huge knock against it that it sounds so familiar. At this stage in Lynch's career, innovating what is still a fresh sound is not a must. Give it an album or two, and that could change. Still, for the time being, Lynch has given us another quietly beautiful record, perfect for flood-filled days or night-time drives, and it's an album that will be a rewarding experience for some time.