This six-track, 31-minute-long release is the follow-up to ‘Ember Days’, and Weingarten says he wanted to continue on from where that one left off, and also explore a much wider musical palette instead of restricting himself mostly to guitar. While he provides acoustic, electric and slide guitars, he also uses keyboards and digital production to get the sound he requires, while Michael Manring provides his delicate touch on fretless bass. The result is a dreamy album which veers at times into ambient, but also into jazz rock fusion, and is incredibly easy to listen to at the first time of playing. There are times when the electric guitar is clean and well defined while at others it is more in the background and very much part of the overall arrangement.
All the songs are incredibly layered with a lot going on, although they are all somewhat all let down by the programmed drums, and I am sure there would have been a much more vital approach if there had been a proper rhythm section deployed. Weingarten says he often had no idea where the music was going to take him, and he would often sit there improvising until it spoke to him and he knew which way he was meant to go. It was that point that he could start layering the sound to create something which is warm and encompassing yet never falls into the trap of being too muffled. Overall, this is a laid-back instrumental album which works well when listened to on headphones.
Rating: 6/10
