...And the Ever Expanding Universe
I get the feeling that in their younger days, the members of Most Serene Republic were the kind of kids who spent their recesses chasing butterflies around the schoolyard. Were they a) just weird children who hadn’t been properly socialized early on in life OR b) Incredibly Soulful Young Individuals who were transfixed by the curlicued/random/elegant flight patterns of said butterflies? Judging by the curlicued/random/elegant sound of their latest effort, …And the Ever Expanding Universe, I’m gonna go with the latter option.
The album enters with a vampy bang; on “Bubble Reputation”, dramatic, exciteable piano and pronounced percussion spin themselves into a dizzying scatter, setting the tone for the rest of the record. From here the album works its happy way further uphill: the silly, banjo-y folkjazz of “Heavens to Purgatory” where lyrics like Gadzooks, gadzooks, gadzooks!’ are completely appropriate; the demanding, melodious “Vessels of a Donor Look” with its free form structure and frequent detours; the stable beat of “Phi” with its thick bass tone that seems like an homage to the Arts&Crafts aesthetic. After “Phi”, the album takes a noticeable break in favour of more mellow fare. While there is something to be said for playing with rise and fall, tracks five through seven cause …And the Ever Expanding Universe to lose some its earlier momentum. However, this otherwise low-key stretch is saved from mediocrity by the cinematic playfulness of “Patternicity.” There’s a feeling of mischief and adventure about it that makes me want to head out on an exploratory expedition. The rest of the album winds itself down in the wake of “Patternicity”, all harmony and skittering drums… save for “Don’t Hold Back, Feel a Little Longer” which translates directly as ‘you will dance fiercely upon hearing’ in musicspeak.
There is an overall infectious joy to these songs that comes from their freespiritdness. Most Serene Republic have captured the unpredictable flights of butterflies and bumblebees with their intricate arrangments, while still achieving an organic feel. Even though a sound this rich has probably taken years of technical skill and intense self-scrutiny to arrive at, …And the Ever Expanding Universe still feels like a collection of unusual melodies that were rattled off with humble ease. Given their many-layered, genre-bending-in-a-hyphenated-kind-of-way sound, MSR could very easily come off as a band of undesirably hipster-esque types. But there is such a good naturedness to the music they make, like they just really get a kick out of what they’re creating.
…And the Ever Expanding Universe is made up of songs that often travel down multiple roads in the span of the three minutes, making for a new listening experience every single time. That being said, there’s a certain wallflower quality about this music that suggests it could blend itself into the din of your next social function, that it could unobtrusively soundtrack the brilliant and profound conversations partygoers are having about literature and the human condition …and the ever expanding universe.
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