“Like running through a field filled with blooming flowers while also dreaming about the stars and your past. This album makes me want to write, makes me want to live, makes me want to breathe deep. Beautiful, percussive post rock blended with amazing strings and touching vocals.”
Few descriptions about “Southern Skies Motel”, Akash Murthy’s latest solo effort under the banner of Farfetch’d, could be as apt as this review found on the release’s Bandcamp page. In fact, it would probably take listeners a while to even find the words to say, given this album’s potential to blow one’s mind.
Genre defying, as diverse as the country it’s from and simply soul stirring, “SSM” is without a doubt one of the finest releases this year. It may have taken a while in the making, but the wait was definitely worth it and most likely even one of the reasons behind album’s sheer quality, given the variety of styles the tracks are made in.
With Murthy’s technical expertise on the guitar being the core around which everything revolves, the wide spectrum of elements gel together perfectly to give an end product that has something for every listener.
Rustic yet polished, otherworldly yet reminiscent of our surroundings, energizing yet calming, this 7-track progressive acoustic masterpiece is something that can best be understood by experiencing first hand. Be it meandering like “The Lunar Observatory” or a soulful, nostalgic cascade of melodies as found in “Moonshine”, the true beauty of each track lies in the multitude of meanings it can have to the listener.
Regardless of whatever it means to you and wherever it takes you, the one thing that is certain is that with this brilliant follow up to their mesmerizing debut album “The Alchemist”, Farfetch’d seems like one act that is incapable of anything but excellence, and in my opinion is criminally underrated.
Here’s to seeing a lot more from them.
You can stream “Southern Skies Motel” LP on Bandcamp and Soundcloud.
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Picture: Saloni Sinha
