Chris Bartels - Myths and Mold (2017)

Myths and Mold / Album Video Teaser #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8y-LCoVbAE

Written by Lydia Stewart, posted by blog admin

Chris Bartels wears many hats. He’s, first and foremost, a husband and father. His artistic world is consumed by work with the synth pop outfit Bora York, an ambient project with the moniker Elskavon, and the intensely melancholy dance pop of Hi-Fi Call. He’s adding to that impressive roster with the second release under his own name, Myths and Mold. The five song collection combines many of the aforementioned projects qualities with a generous helping of his poetic vision. It’s a vision manifesting itself in both his lyrical and musical approach alike. Bartels accomplishes many of these effects through a decidedly impressionistic style, accumulating effects rather than unveiling songs in an arch conventional way, but the ultimate emotional impact is never remote. The five songs here have distinctly different moods, but there’s an unity of purpose and sound heard in the techniques that Bartels uses to communicate. The evocative production, reverb-laced atmospherics, and concise length of the material sonically sustain the collection, but Bartels’ voice is at the center of it all and guides the release from the first to the last.

The swell of sound beginning the opener “Blind” soon dissipates when Bartels’ multi-tracked vocals enter the mix. This initial amorphous fanfare segues into a sprightly tempo anchored by tasteful drumming and bass playing that’s powerful, but stripped down and direct. There’s a variety of guitar textures employed during the course of the song and the vocal arrangement fits perfectly with the song’s architecture. Words and phrases like “ambient” and “dream-like” can be used to accurately describe this music, but they aren’t enough. This is painterly stuff full of colorful sound. “Missoula” begins with the sound of chirping crickets before it transitions into a melodically hypnotic and deceptively simple guitar figure. Bartels takes the same vocal approach here as he does in the first song, but it has a more diffuse style than we heard on the opener. The harmonies are spread out more throughout the piece and the prime mover here is the arrangement rather than his voice.

Another hypnotic musical passage anchors the song “Stay”. It comes courtesy of piano this time and the lyrical simplicity and beauty of the playing stands in sharp contrast to the distanced effects of the instrumentation on earlier tracks. The EP’s title track is, surprisingly, it’s shortest and the most clearly ambient of the collection. Bartels’, once again, introduces ghostly and often quite beautiful piano to the mix and the windswept cinematic quality surrounding the song is an excellent match for more of Bartels’ haunting, multi-tracked vocals. The finale “Counting Hands” has a much brighter demeanor than the aforementioned four songs but much of the same approach to sound and orchestration heard on the earlier performances dominates this one as well. Bartels utilizes a variety of vocal approaches that gives the relatively brief tune impressive musical diversity. This is a release with wealth you uncover only after multiple listens and solidifies Bartels’ standing as one of the most fascinating songwriters and performers on the scene today.

Myths and Mold / Album Video Teaser #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8y-LCoVbAE