March 4, 1831 – Balmorhea
If you liked their last one, you’re absolutely going to love the new record from Austin-instrumentalists Balmorhea.
All is Wild, All is Silent has all of dulcet beauty of their previous work, but also offers quite a bit more emotional (and musical) heft. The arrangements are intricate, but never forced. They reveal themselves gently, soothing the soul and caressing the heart, which is not to say this is all soft touches and whispery notes. They bring the noise on occasion, if only in a relative sense, and some of the finest moments are when the songs are set free amidst a round of handclaps.
It’s always hard for me to ‘rank’ instrumental music because so much of why I enjoy music is wrapped up in the lyrics and the meaning they carry. So there’s a LOT of stuff I enjoy and listen to, but relatively little which really sticks out as something I want to come back to over and over. This album falls into the latter category. In a year that’s had a ton of good albums but not a lot of great ones, I keep asking myself whether this effort from Balmorhea might be one of my favorites of the year. There’s something to love in literally every track.