Review Summary: The world busting at its seams
Into The Burning Blue sounds to me like The War On Drugs, if that band’s residual “rawk” instincts were replaced by a more sedate and lounge-y vibe. In other words, Trace Mountains’ latest is extremely
smooth. “Easy-listening” might be a bad word among the kind of music obsessives who read Sputnikmusic.com reviews, but the whole style works pretty well here, helped along by the well of gentle melancholia these nine songs tap into. There are some highlights to be found - opener “In A Dream”, fittingly enough, glides by in a torrent of surreal thoughts and imagery, the weepy “Gone & Done” brings in some MJ Lenderman-esque alt-country, and “Won’t Go Home” closes out the record on a thoughtful note - but, truth be told, the LP’s premier strength is its consistency. None of these tracks truly blow my mind, but there aren’t any notable dips either. An effortlessly enjoyable effort with plenty of emotional pull and nostalgic appeal (a few seeming callbacks to Tom Petty’s
Wildflowers certainly aren’t lost on me),
Into The Burning Blue hits just right during these transitional days, with the days growing shorter but the warm weather still clinging on.
