Album Review: Art Moore - 'Art Moore'
Art Moore’s eponymous debut album, released via ANTI- Records, was issued from a loom of Taylor Vick’s, Sam Durkes’ and Trevor Brooks’ own ingenious design; a loom that weaves organic evocative vocals and synthetic instrumentation into a harmonic pattern that will effortlessly have you listening repeatedly. You can trace this tactile hybrid material along the course of the album. It feels fresh like bright green newly grown stems or quiet technology humming rather than coughing like smoke-spewing industrial mechanisms of the past.
There are two strong concepts and influences on this album which help consolidate the structure and sonic cohesion, the first of which lies in the conception of the band. Originally the trio were making music together to create film or television soundtracks. In these early sessions Durkes recalls ‘using a movie scene or a photograph or still image and… writ[ing] something around it’. In this sense each song acts like a still of a moving image, individual photographs comprising a larger whole, reminiscent of Muybridge’s Animal Locomotion. It is an album in the truest sense of the word: a collection of songs that make complete sense huddled together, not jostling in a frenzy of shoulders and elbows but nestled into one another.
The other prominent concept on ‘Art Moore’ is summed up by Vick’s comment on ‘A Different Life’ (the LP’s fifth song), “I can easily get caught up in the imaginary worlds in my head, overwhelmed by the endless possibilities and versions of me that exist within them. But I am most fascinated by the version just parallel to this one, the one with only a few differences or enhancements. This song is about the experience of longing for that not so far off possibility.” In the parallel partitions of reality that Taylor ponders, peeling away from each other like fibrous segments of fruit, so close in proximity that clinging pith still bridges the gaps, there are versions of ourselves that are fulfilling our dreams or have crumbled with our doubts and flaws. On this song, Vick sings ‘In the distance as far as I can see/ still pushing through different versions of me’ providing this tactile organic imagery of imagining these alternate realities.
These two concepts align so harmoniously that it is no surprise that the effortless production, chilled synths and steady drum machine beats flow with the upbeat vocals tinctured with sadness in perfect union. The varied sound design of Ezra Furman’s collaborators Sam Durkes and Trevor Brookes is by no means lo-fi in quality but in aesthetic and listenability. The relaxed heartbeat of this stoned indie pop laps against the shore rather than breaks against the cliffs. Vick’s low key infectious vocal hooks are so predominant on the album they become an expected addition to each song. The fact Vick’s vocals never shred or exert beyond a soft and melodious temperament follows this idea of ‘A Different Life’ where other ‘not so far off possibilit[ies]’ exist behind thin veils of reality. By not pushing her voice to its extremity and leaving vocal lacunas in certain songs, it gives the listener the ability to imagine other melodies and sounds that could exist. This form of collaboration with the listener is something Art Moore clearly champion in their art, they are a band who know that being quiet can be so much more impactful than shouting.
Words by Daniel Badger
