A Crack in the Snow Mortar
Songwriting has always been a form of mapmaking for Dup Crosson - a chance to sculpt a landscape out of nothing and mark one's place in the world. Saint Solitude's third release, A Crack in the Snow Mortar, outlines numerous references to maps and oceans, making it obvious this project has not lost its sense of exploration.
The raucous opener "Simple Horrors" sets the pace for Crosson's new-found confidence in grit and volume, neatly stacking a wall of guitars over his typically urgent lyrical pleas: "will I fall in love?" From there the album expands like a starfish. "Anyone But Me" channels Beck in its alchemy of acoustic guitars and synthesized beats, and both "Future Crimes" and the instrumental "Falcon Melt" land on some of the loudest material Crosson has written to date. On an album that brazenly runs to the extremes, the less flashy numbers ("Common Elder," "The Incredible Escape") sound more glorious than ever in the careful restraint of their arrangements.
ACITSM is a lean affair, clocking in at just over 35 minutes, but promises potency in its brevity. In the same fashion as his debut, Journal of Retreat, the songs were recorded at a home studio and feel natural in their variety as a result. After returning to his native state of Maine, Crosson has made a homecoming record true to his myriad influences and lofty ambitions.
While the project is on an indefinite touring hiatus, Crosson is already halfway finished with a companion record, with a release planned for mid 2014.
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