Moveys＜限定盤＞

The full-length debut of a band from Chicago by way of Madison, Wisconsin, Moveys follows a series of EPs that documented a major transformation for the group. Founded by childhood friends Henry Stoehr (guitar), Alexander Leeds (bass), and Theodore Mathews (drums), Slow Pulp made Emily Massey their lead singer only after she contributed guitar and backing vocals to their second EP, 2017s EP2. Their third extended play and first as a four-piece, Big Day, led to a tour with Alex G and record deal with Winspear. An album full of attractive, melancholy guitar atmospheres that takes a couple of abrupt diversions, the Stoehr-produced Moveys settles in with the suffocating, electro-acoustic New Horse. Mixing multiple picked acoustic guitar lines with low, murky synths and multi-tracked vocals, it launches the album into a dream state that considers the passage of time and the possibility of recovery. (Massey both suffered multiple fatigue-related health problems and returned to Madison to help her ailing parents in the lead-up to the album.) While much of Moveys sticks to swaying, midrange tempos, they pick up the pace halfway through, on At It Again, though the song hangs on to the, by then, well-established hazy, ruminative demeanor. Later, the ambling Montana incorporates slide guitar and harmonica without leaving this sighing, world-weary state. Where the album veers from its immersive mood is with Whispers (In the Outfield), an instrumental piano interlude by the singers father, pianist Michael Massey, and the surprising final track, the hip-hop goof Movey. ~ Marcy Donelson