Album Review

Merz – No Compass Will Find Home

• 4th Jan 2013

On January 7th 2013, Accidental Records will release the brand spanking new album ‘No Compass Will Find Home’ from Merz (aka Conrad Lambert), constructed in partnership with Matthew Herbert. After Merz’s previous album ‘Moi Et Mon Camion’ was released nearly five years ago, Merz has been circling the Earth participating in single live shows and festivals alike, from Green Man in the UK, to SXSW in Texas.

Beginning with ‘Arrows’, Merz uses floaty guitar chords with echoing vocals to establish the atmosphere that will be continued on, track by track, dipping and turning to create new images and sounds that embrace the mind and ears with a classically imperfect vibe. ‘Lauterbrunnen’ is used as an interlude, compromising of dark and dingy sounds with a sincere disposition topped off by the distorted drum and bass, closing the eyes of a track that sways and swoops from good to great. This interlude slots perfectly into its neighbouring track ‘Judge’, an upbeat and indie-esque peace with bouncing drum snatches and catchy lyrics that would definitely be sparkling ingredients for a fiery live performance. Reaching into the core of ‘No Compass Will Find Home’, the confusing lyrics of ‘Eudaimonia’ are shared with a multitude of different instruments to create an eclectic piece which was shaped by the inspiration Merz gained from renting out a studio that was previously a laboratory used by Albert Einstein.

‘Toy’ is thought to be the most popular track from this album, solely from the coverage gained by various firms, such as the national newspaper, The Guardian, listing it as one of the ‘Best Tracks of 2011’ with no sign of opposition. Progressing towards the end of the album ‘The Hunting Owl’ is found, where reverberations are used to create the personality of nature to reflect the name of the title. This could be an appropriate track to be sitting by the campfire singing and swaying along to with the crisp tweaking of guitar strings and authentic lyrics. Essentially, this is a relaxing conclusion of an album, igniting the spark to fire the imagination.

To end, ‘No Compass Will Find Home’ is the album-titled track. With the six minutes of Merz’s rough and rugged vocal edges and the haunting wolf like sounds, he forms the footsteps into a rapid drumbeat, slowly building up into a crescendo of sound in an apt fashion to wrap up the album. ‘No Compass Will Find Home’ is a true creation that combines the passion in the life experiences of Merz, and provoking sounds that tickle the senses of every listener.

Venue: No Compass Will Find Home
Support Band: Accidental Records