'By The Fire' Review: Thurston Moore's album is a melodic tribute to insanity, nine-track LP marks his 6th solo
Thurston Moore, former singer and guitarist for noise-rock pioneers Sonic Youth, is set to drop his new album 'By The Fire'. Arriving on September 25, the LP will mark his sixth solo album iteration following 'Rock n Roll Consciousness' which released in 2017.
Outside of Sonic Youth, Moore has also participated in many solo and group collaborations, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Moore was ranked No 34 in Rolling Stone's 2004 edition of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and in 2012, he and his Sonic Youth bandmate, Lee Ranaldo, both earned the No 1 slot on a staff-selected list of the top 100 rock guitarists published by Spin.
His most recent project 'Spirit Counsel' dropped last year with the debut of Thurston Moore Group and his latest solo effort features most of the same musicians such as bassist Deb Googe (My Bloody Valentine), guitarist James Sedwards, John Leidecker aka Wobbly and Sonic Youth's own drummer Steve Shelley.
The concise nine-track LP 'By The Fire' opens with the artsy single 'Hashish' which released on June 20. With the intentional pressing of eerily-bent notes in its intro, it is clear from the get-go that Moore's creative mind has dipped into the psychedelic. Taking into further multi-dimensional paradigms, 'Hashish' then swells into the melodic with layers of carefully vibrant guitar riffs and surgically-placed vocals between lengthy instrumental grooves. In the outro, chord structures are taken into darker sounds once again, hinting that the rest of the album isn't an offer of sweet summer jams, but a tribute to insanity.
In blows 'Breath'. With a softer intro two minutes into the near-11-minute track, 'Breath' opens deeply melancholic. There are no vocals (except in smalls segments of the latter half of the song) and it feels like the unbottling of the personal. Four minutes in and Moore kills any curious cat with a return to uptempo rock grooving. Rather obscurely, 'Breath' ends with horrific squealing of guitars, a possible reminder for listeners to appreciate the lighter moments... or cryptically warning against the contrast of impending doom. The whole affair feels cinematic and a good example of Moore's genius.
Similar weirdness can be found in songs like 'Locomotives', or 'They Believe In Love (When They Look At You)'. Then you have 'Caligraphy' which curiously mixes sounds resonating surf rock and that of your classic Vietnam War film OST.
One of the few straightforward tracks, 'Siren', again, mostly instrumental, plays out with a mildly saddening six-minute intro before unveiling the curtain once again to Moore's abstract creativity. Dramatic notes are subtly pinched in, a lengthy rant closes the first half and then nothingness. Cue in the second half of the track and it plays out much sweeter. Bear in mind that this is all one song, 12 minutes, at that.
With its unpredictable nature, 'By The Fire' speaks of meditation near licks of flame with a mind of their own that taunt, burn and warm at the same time. It is musical art at its most grotesque and satisfying form and 'By The Fire' is highly recommended for those who want to get lost in experimental rock and roll.
Read our review on Thurston Moore's 'Cantaloupe' from the album here.