Release Date: Septermber 27th, 2011
Mark McGuire has picked and plucked away at drone, ambient chords for quite a while now, both with his band Emeralds and in a separate solo project. Deplete of the synths and electronic elements that are so essential to Emeralds’ sound, McGuire’s solo output instead aligns itself with guitar records whose focus rests on live instrumentation and accompanied looping rather than lyrical diversity. His latest release, Get Lost, is no different, but we see McGuire dabbling with minor vocals and a more deliberate (although still heavy) use of drone effects.
Compared with 2010’s Living With Yourself, McGuire’s newest acquisition demonstrates a greater sense of intention behind his musical process. Rather than honing his skills with improvisation, McGuire uses reoccurring motifs in the form of bubbling loops and specific key plucking to create an accessible soundscape. Whether listeners are able to distinguish his exact intentions and ideas is strictly determined by the individual. However, McGuire provides his audience with a consistent framework to achieve such realizations. Not everybody takes the initiative to understand a musician’s greater meaning behind the music, thus Get Lost functions pleasantly as an album whose optimism is found in its beautifully arranged instrumentation.
Opening and title track “Get Lost” steals the spotlight on the six-song collection. Utilizing an immense filter on lightly strummed guitar chords, McGuire gradually dials up the volume and energy of the track until it reaches a hazy, albeit brief climax. However climatic the end of the song renders itself, it doesn’t necessarily fulfill its preceding buildup because of its fuzzy nature and short existence. “Another Dead End” begins rather slowly before proceeding into a three-chord progression, all the while emitting a sort of swirling atmosphere.
It’s pretty clear that McGuire is trying to deliberately construct and arrange his loops and layers, but he also attempts to tighten his output with his own voice. We first hear McGuire’s sensitive vocals on “Alma” and later in “Alma (Reprise)/Chances Are …” His singing bestows another layer of softness to his guitar strumming and further promotes the albums cohesive sound.
Closing the album is “Firefly Constellations,” an exaggerated 20-minute escapade into celestial soundscapes and gurgling drones. McGuire’s live chords are washed over with twinkling satellite drones that will either immerse your ears or have you begging for the mute switch. Like the preceding songs, the album’s closer trades suspenseful dynamics for a more consistent outpour, and this exchange doesn’t lend itself to any real intensity.
Despite his lush guitar arpeggios and diverse arrangement of layers and loops, McGuire’s recent effort seems slightly incomplete.
Almost every one of the collection’s six tracks toys with the possibility of a momentous acceleration, yet none fulfill such expectations. The individual tracks tend to leave listeners hanging in mid-space, wanting and anticipating more. Get Lost lacks an overall “wow factor,” something that would set McGuire’s minimal instrumentals apart from an oversaturated industry. It begs the question then, if McGuire is so well-associated with bubbling drone ascetics, where should he draw the line between tasteful arrangements and painful overuse? Consequently, Get Lost would benefit tenfold if McGuire dialed the drone down a bit and put the spotlight on his precise chord selection.
Mark McGuire – Get Lost tracklist:
- “Get Lost”
- “When You’re Somewhere (You Ought to Be There)”
- “Alma”
- “Another Dead End”
- “Alma (Reprise)/Chances Are …”
- “Firefly Constellations”
