Continental, the second of four instrumental recordings to be released on Darla, opens with a ghostly synth that’s eventually accompanied by the album’s voice, a luminous, clean electric guitar. With tranquil ease, dissonant, yet harmonic multi-layer guitar tones drift in and out of atmospheric tracks that express both melancholic lows and uplifting bliss. Dark, comforting melodies carefully build to climactic crashing drums and distorted guitars. Fans of Sigur Ros’s accessible release, Takk, or the dreamy, down-stroking guitar-work on Interpol’s Turn On The Bright Lights, might take to Guthrie’s patient melodramatic crescendos.
At times, Continental drifts too far into the atmospheric abyss. An emptiness – maybe loneliness – pervades some tracks . . . a weakness that may have been avoided with a more collaborative effort. Perhaps more instrumentation and an ‘outsider’ producer would have moved the songs on Continental from soundtrack material to great songs in and of themselves.
Regardless, the shimmering guitars and haunting keyboards on Continental create an ambient mood that slows down the listener’s thoughts and pulls out reflective daydreams – your own internal films to accompany Guthrie’s effortless compositions. Continental is a great album if you feel like getting high and going for a walk with your mp3 player . . . help you take in the serene sights and smells you normally gloss over. Although, with Guthrie’s delicate melodies and crashing dynamics, the weed may be unnecessary.
