Myths
and Mold / Album Video Teaser #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8y-LCoVbAE
Written
by Charles Hatton, posted by blog admin
Chris
Bartels ranks among the finest of the modern day breed of singer/songwriter
whose liberal blending of electronica, jagged alternative guitars, and
atmospheric and frequently multi-tracked vocals has become a viable artistic
vehicle for many. Bartels, however, resolutely avoids outright imitation. He
used the style to help accentuate his impressionistic soundscapes, but there’s
always a sturdy tether to songwriting fundamentals that grounds these songs in
a recognizable world. Bartels’ lyrics have an elliptical quality, but he
achieves a poetic unity of lightly theatrical suggestiveness coupled with
genuinely reflective and carefully wrought musical arrangements. The production
has an unique challenge in capturing this musical vision, but Bartels is quite
successful. His musical acumen extends to a spot behind the console and the
detailed rendering these compositions receive is a critical factor in the EP’s
success.
The
second EP under his own name begins with the song “Blind”. It has great urgency
and shows a penchant for orchestration in its steady ascent from a relatively
muted beginning into much more cinematic fare by the song’s mid way point.
Bartels’ tendency towards massing his vocals in a multi-tracked, choral style
enhances the performances a great deal without ever sounding too pretentious or
overwrought. The memorable guitar figure powering much of “Missoula” doesn’t
present itself immediately but, along with another memorable vocal, becomes the
standout elements of this performance. He brings some ambient effects into this
performance, as well, that are artfully touches rather than corny or affected.
We
hear another side of his musical character with the next two tracks. “Stay”
comes off as his nod in the ballad tradition, but Bartels’ songwriting
sensibility roams a stranger sonic landscape than anything you’ll hear on
mainstream radio. The piano playing is the tip off – it has an elegiac, even
slightly melancholy, aspect not shared by the previous tracks but, even here,
Bartels has a personal mission to keep things a little off kilter. The drumming
on this performance has an unusually aggressive, but curt, structure and hints
at stormier emotions just under the song’s surface. The EP’s title song “Myths
and Mold” is, without question, the release’s biggest envelope pusher. Bartels,
for the majority of the song, all but abandons traditional structure in favor
of making a different impact on the listener. The song is the shortest on this
release and it’s interesting to hear how adeptly Bartels achieves the same
effects on a much smaller canvas while never compromising his sound. The EP’s
closing track “Counting Hands” has a martial beat not quite filled out and
brings guitar back to the fore after
being largely absent in the preceding two songs. It gives the EP a nice exclamation
point that is obviously carefully considered and has a rousing feel, in its own
way, much like the middle and second half of the opener. Myths and Mold shows
off the depths of intelligence in Chris Bartels’ writing and suggests further
efforts in this vein will only gain merit and luster.
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