Milwalkie are Matt and Steve Morris and Adjustments is their new and third album.
The former of the brothers has described this record as being “as honest as possible” and from a listen or two this barefaced approach is quite evident.
Each of the songs has an air of optimism, and a simple yet reassuring feel, captured through a recording process that makes all the tracks sound as live and natural as possible.
The wandering guitar of opener ‘Black Alexander’ is a staple throughout, and with its whimsical trails it draws circles to lead the yearning vocals and gentle percussion.
Devoid of any electronics, lush instrumentation, or superfluous flourishes, Adjustments adopts a “back to basics” approach that yields a kind of sincerity you can only achieve through conveying parts of yourself, and while upbeat never loses its vibe of nostalgia and melancholy.
The extended instrumental outro of the title track seems the pinnacle of this reflective atmosphere, almost as if the songwriters are deliberately giving the listener time to ponder their thoughts before presenting their own in the remainder of the record.
Mid-record track ‘Wasted’ shadows the moody indie of yesteryear; while successor ‘My Cow Is Not Pretty But It Is Pretty To Me’ is a trundling instrumental ditty that lives up to its quirky name.
Amid all the pouring of emotion into music, the album has two tracks which seem to capture the feeling perfectly (while the rest are about 95% correct): ‘Land’ and album closer ‘Winters A Lonely Ghost’.
While the latter embraces a bit more energy than the album’s majority to energising effect; it adopts a mesmerising to drive home the “ghost” imagery with haunting effect; despite contrasting soundscapes, these tracks are the ones to covet, a testament to the versatility of Milwalkie if nothing else.
Essentially, the conjecture of Adjustments being an honest album is more that confirmed on a listening to the record, as while the arrangements are simple, they are supposed to be in order to best communicate the feelings of the brothers behind the art.
Not quite a jaunty summer album, and not quite a dreary sulking album this third record possesses a little more depth that you may expect and given the evident level of emotion passed into the record, that’s something to respect even if you don’t consider yourself a fan.
Words: Kyle McCormick
