Lines

One of the first things mentioned in a lot of press about Julian Lynch is that he's been working for a long time in a Ph.D. program in ethnomusicology. It might seem like lazy journalism if the multi-instrumentalist's albums weren't so richly arranged with a palette of sounds that suggests the deepest delving into understanding a wide array of styles, timbres, and textures. Lynch's fourth proper album, Lines, is perhaps the most representative of his enormous range, and also the most focused of his solo efforts so far. Where previous efforts reached to include different stylistic approaches in the framework of his lazy, narcotic pop, they ended up sounding scattered and wandering in their exploration. From the muted clarinet tones that begin album opener "Going," the songs set out on a journey of refined sounds, each of which points back at its creator, funneling into an overall vision rather than meshing different sonic reference points. Spaced-out synthesizers, frantic percussion, and tense vocal harmonies float "Going" through its various segments, moving in a fragmentary manner into the marimba clatter and fretless bass notes that hover nebulously at the song's end. The bright acoustic guitars and airy vocals of "Carios Kelleyi I" give the song a Robert Wyatt feel, culminating in intense Fripp-esque buzzsaw lead guitar harmony in the song's middle. There's a homespun quality to most of Lines, but not one reliant on ramshackle arrangements or lo-fi recording. Instead, Lynch's meticulous arrangements are at times more focal to the album than the compositions. The gloriously intrusive electronics that argue with deftly arranged woodwind sections on "Yawning" offer up release as they squelch and flutter over the drone of steadfast Kraut-folk rhythms. Lines flows with a brilliant combination of lackadaisical ease and deep thoughtfulness, evoking scenes of carefree spring days and softly happy memories in its precisely placed and always shifting sonic landscapes. It's a rare occurrence to have something so academic and clearly considered come off as playful and laid-back as these songs do, but the layers of instruments never outshine the glowing optimism and simple joy of Lynch's songwriting. ~ Fred Thomas