Môr is an international band with a strong British contribution. The band members are Peter Rand (composition, guitars and keyboards), Chris Matthews (composition, guitars, mixing and production) and Ramlee Oak (lyrics, vocals, bass and drums). The strange-looking name MÔR is an acronym derived from the members' names and, by a happy accident, is Welsh for 'raging sea'. The Wisdom of Simple Things was their debut album and with Tomorrow's Relics they present their successor. This band is completely new to me and I started listening to their music with an open mind. I don't want to be guided by the horrible cover and after reading the info I thought this might just be something for me. The question is, is that true? The answer is pretty easy to give, no not really and I would like to explain why. The music is nice and Oak's voice is certainly good. There is a lot of harmony singing and we even hear a saxophone, played by Sven-Martin Keil, in the title track. For the lyrics it is useful to understand the concept and that is not easy. That concept is quite complex and for the explanation I used a piece from the supplied info, and that is indeed pure plagiarism, I know. We occupy both space and time and, assuming the physical cosmos is infinite, perhaps time is as well; it never started and it will never end. According to ancient Hindu belief, time is both eternal and cyclical, not linear. The Tibetan Kalachakra (wheel of time) represents, among other things, this cycle that plays out on a time scale that dwarfs any practical relationship with an average human life. The rise and fall of human civilisations, indeed, the entirety of human history, is but a single grain of sand on the Kalachakra. As if that were not confronting enough, we're beginning to realise that we have a very incomplete picture of our ancient past. It was only 30 years ago that excavations started at Göbekli Tepe in Türkiye, revealing a vast site of previously unknown monolithic architecture - erected, and then deliberately buried, more than 11,000 years ago. Our relationship with time is both tenuous and transient. So, take a moment to process this, that's pretty ambitious and that also applies to a certain extent to the music because it's rarely complex, like in opener Timeslip or the title track, and even quite minimalistic here and there. That doesn't make it any easier to get lost in it and that's where the problem lies for me, the melodies are not fluent and don't stick. The seven tracks vary in length between five and eight minutes and have a slightly psychedelic character here and there and like in Thirty Six Barrels you imagine yourself being in a pub in some harbour of yesteryear. The following song Quiet Time is also quite calm, as the title suggests, and is carried by acoustic guitar. On the album French guitarist Alex Fadista contributes some rhythm guitar and guitar solos here and there. The longest song The Nine indicates for me exactly where the shoe pinches, it contains beautiful and virtuoso guitar solos, steady vocals and beautiful choirs so what more could you want? Well, as said, melodies that stay with you and touch you. The tempo also lingers a bit and there is no exciting rock anywhere. You can find this pattern in more tracks and so Risk Averse doesn't make me jump off my chair either while it sounds quite nice. Closing track Ravenstongue can be dismissed with exactly the same description and even Ramlee's nice bass runs don't bring the song to life either. I have not mentioned the keys so far, even though they are played by two members. They often have a supporting role and very rarely come to the fore. They do provide a certain energy though and together with the sometimes quite busy drumming by Ramlee they prevent boredom in some tracks. Of course, what applies to me does not have to apply to everyone and as always I give the advice to listen for yourself and experience what Môr's music does for you. However, within the wide range of new releases, it will not be easy to stand out in a positive way. ***- Erik Fraanje (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
