This is the second album under the Good Luck Mountain name for Mike Ferrio, former front man of the band Tandy. That band explored the boundaries of alt-country and beyond. In his current guise Ferrio has moved into a broader more reflective direction. In fact the track White Calico Flower reminds me (and maybe it’ll be just me) of It’s Immaterial’s Driving Away From Home. From then on it’s safe to say that this journey has brought Ferrio’s music to a different sonic landscape. This is a musically varied place that has a channel of celticness close to its soul amongst other sources and directions.
As producer Ferrio has employed selection of strong players who alongside his own multi-instrumental capabilities employ trumpet, cello, viola, banjo, tubular bells and more to add texture to the bass, guitar and drums foundation. Overall the mood is thoughtful and considered, sometimes even pastrol at times, with elements of folk, rock, soul and ambient sound all interwoven.
The song Apollo uses transmission voices to give it context. While The Seawall is the first time we hear some strident reverbed guitar on the albums longest track that runs over 7 minutes but manages to never loose attention. Another song that runs over the 5 minute time that is often associated with such an album is Angels that employs a drone-like violin over a vocal meditation that builds towards the end as additional vocals join in.
The penultimate songs are The Blue and Out Of The Blue. The former is a gentle and effecting violin focused instrumental while the later has a folkish tone with just voice and guitar that emphasises the strengths of Ferrio’s vocals. The album closes as it opened with Morning Moon a circular motioned slice of ambient music that manages to sum up the mood of the album overall. Not normally what we would consider a part of our "country music" brief but an album that is rewarding and righteous, one recommended to former Tandy fans.