The New Britton Sound

Album Review

A full seven years after 2004’s Summer Cherry Ghosts, Timothy Monger returns with The New Britton Sound, his second solo album. The New Britton Sound contains echoes of Summer Cherry Ghosts along with remnants of the Great Lakes Myth Society, but it’s a distinctive work in its own right, an assured yet subtle step forward for Monger. Much of this is rooted in folk, swaying between delicate strums and rural plucks, yet the acoustic foundations do not keep the music earthbound. Monger finds something epic within his miniature tales of friends and foes, guitar cases, mining accidents, and happy drunks, layering in unexpected instrumentation, gently opening the songs up with sparkling guitars and keyboards, occasionally letting the tunes soar toward their conclusion on the wings of a trumpet. The songs are direct but the arrangements are not, and far from providing a disconnect, this yin-and-yang approach gives The New Britton Sound a richness that resonates stronger and stronger after every listen.