Megafaun - Gather, Form & Fly *****

 

I'd not heard of Megafaun until my wife bought their CD on a whim and when I finally got round to listening to Gather, Form & Fly I was blown away by what a refreshing and wonderful album this is.

This, the second album from the American three-piece, is a mixture of country, blues, folk, and experimental jazz all in one and the mix goes together without pretension.  This is an album with spirit and has been put together thoughtfully to give the listener a superb experience.  Listening to the album in it's entirety had me constantly trying to figure out what would come next.  The first three tracks, including the chirpy, yet wistful The Fade, hint that this could be a gem of an alt-folk album with some sweet harmonies.  But by Impressions of the Past I was whisked off down another path, by the type of instrumental that some bands may use an album closer or for an interlude.  The fact that they include it so early in the album shows what a strong, well suited and beautiful mess of a piece of music it is.

This album only allows sentimentality in small doses, there no settling on a certain genre here and although overall the album will be filed in the " folk", "country", and "blues" sections of music shops, on closer listening it is evident that there is much more going on.  The brooding The Process is driven by inventive percussion as is the start of Darkest Hour, another experimental cut of household noises that, whilst not all musical, allowed me to drift off with the storm that we hear on this track.  The sea-shanty vocals adds to a bizarre dream of a song and this is why I find this album so engaging.  It is the seemingly effortless building of atmosphere and feeling that Megafaun create that moves me.

The penultimate track, Guns, is a seven minute round the campfire singalong that has an uplifting melody which highlights the quality of the trios vocal mix.  These guys aren't the best vocalists in the world but there is a soft, characterful quality that gives them more emotion than Iron and Wine, but less grizzle than you will find on a Johnny Cash album and for me that is a solid mix.

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