Indie folk singer-songwriter The Last Optimist, aka Markus Belanger, recently dropped his album, seed water sun, which follows on the heels of a pair of stripped-down albums, Make it alright with grace and this moment is gone.
Talking about the album, Belanger shares, “This has been a year of alchemy. Turning challenging times into poetry, poetry into song verse, guitar plucking into orchestration, and hard experience into resilience. ‘seed water sun’ is the soundtrack for that rough ride of human experience in 2023 with moments of rage and sadness resolved by the salve, the antidote, and the solace that we are all searching for. When the end of the World seems upon us – the last of the optimists water the flowers. I hope you find some of yourself in the new songs.”
‘The Last Optimist fuses indie rock with emo folk, social activism with transcendentalism, trauma with solace, dissonance with poetry.
Produced by Doug Kwartler, seed water sun features the talents of Markus Belanger (guitar, vocals, drums, bass), Danielle Pinals (vocals), and Doug Kwartler (upright bass, piano, guitar, drums, accordion, synths, glockenspiel, lap steel, banjo, percussion, backing vocals).
Encompassing nine tracks, the album begins with “not a sound,” opening on a gentle, gleaming acoustic guitar, followed by the soft, breathy voice of Belanger. As light, streaming strings enter, Pinals’ gorgeously lilting vocals arrive, imbuing the tune with sumptuous suffusions of tones.
Entry points include “only two ways out,” with its galloping-lite rhythm topped by shadowy, growling guitars as Belanger’s vocals give the lyrics tints of portentous savors. Vaguely reminiscent of Leonard Cohen, there’s a foreboding undercurrent to the harmonics.
“bloom now sweet flower” once again features the deliciously evocative voice of Pinals, whose crème de la crème voice elevates the song to a higher realm. While “hermit in the maples” merges hints of Leonard Cohen and Gordon Lightfoot into a drifting, nuanced melody dripping with melancholic wistfulness.
“one night in Belfast” ramps things up, forging a bouncy country-laced tune with dollops of tasty Irish folk-rock energy.
“on Monkton ridge” ties the album off, revealing a delicately swaying rhythm, highlighted by luminous accents and the whispery vocals of Belanger. The melody mousses up to striking resonance for a few bars and then descends to the initial undulating flow.
seed water sun evokes a profound, contemplative feel, while the lyrics give listeners pause as they interpret the immediacy of the words.
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