Sumner McKane – ‘What A Great Place To Be’
Indie/Psychedelic/Ambient
4.5/5.0
After a very touching year musically, this album fell into my life by way of recommendation from a friend, ‘The best album I’ve heard this year’ she said ‘a bold statement’ I replied. Little did I know upon first listen to ‘What A Great Place To Be’ back in the summer, that it would later serve as a perfect soundtrack to welcoming the Autumn season.
This album is completely soaked in a sentimental value to that of the band members, each track telling a story of personal and historical events relating to that of their home Maine in the United Sates. The ideology behind each track is out there for you to discover and read about should you want to, but if you are like me and want the music to speak for itself then just give this utterly beautiful album the space it deserves kick back for 55 minutes and soak in some of today’s best in ambient instrumental.
The album features some extremely beautiful and minimal guitar work of a Western American style that is tinged with a slight post-rock vibe. There are a number of synths that seem to carry conventional ideas into sounds capes and explorations of an ambient genre. This serves as perfect backdrops for intricate and melodic guitar passages. This is a release that is very moving and sentimental, this is reflected in not only content but in execution in production.
Worthy of anybody’s time, highly recommended.
