A little while ago, I reviewed a single track from The Moor's eponymous debut album – namely 'Warm Winter'. Here is my description of 'Warm Winter' from that review:
"'Warm Winter' is a very aptly titled track, because the mood that the track evokes is one of pleasant warmth, but, at the same time, there is a touch of wintery melancholia to the tune. The song is rich in texture and the overall sound is characterized by a certain lushness due to its layers of sound and instrumentation. Erica Daking's vocals are very soft and soothing – as is the entire song, actually – and definitely add a further dose of pleasantness to this track. In a sense there is a certain post-rock sensibility to 'Warm Winter', but it lacks the bleakness which otherwise seems to be typical of a lot of post rock these days, and I kind of appreciate that, because it makes the tune incredibly easy and pleasant to listen to – and sometimes I need music with just that quality."
and the conclusion to that review was that, if 'Warm Winter' and a couple of other tracks that I sneaked a peak on were indicators of what the album would sound like, then things looked very promising.
And, whaddayaknow, the whole album sounds just like I expected. The entire album is warm and pleasant to listen to. The tunes are relatively simple, yet with very lush and rich textures, and the album is overall very expressive and, in its own right, a quite progressive affair with hints of psychedelia. Despite the wamth that The Moor eradiates, there is a melancholic feel to the album overall, and even quite upbeat tracks like 'Louise', 'Mean Mean Mean' and 'You'll See' have a certain feel of vulnerability and melancholia to them, while tracks like 'Now that I'm Gone', 'Just You' and 'Mercury', while soft and warm, have a certain sadness or darkness to them, which also applies to the more folksy 'Lovers and Friends' – which is my favorite track of the album.
The album is consistent in sound and feel, but each of the tracks on it sounds slightly different from the others, and, as a whole, the album is nicely varied, with some tunes being more atmospheric and others having more "substance" to them (for want of a better word) and some being minimalistic and others being lush and big sounding. The production is quite organic, but not lo-fi, and I especially like the authentic 70s rock sound of the drums which suits The Moor's brand of quasi-psychedelic progressive post-rock very well.
The Moor is a fine debut-album, which is bound to capture the interest of progressively inclined fans of melancholic alternative rock and post-rock.
Track Listing:
1. Warm Winter
2. Mean Mean Mean
3. Just You
4. Lovers and Friends
5. You'll See
6. Now That I'm Gone
7. Louise
8. Mercury
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