Mark McGuire - Get Lost (CD, Vinyl LP)

Another shot from the mighty Emeralds canon is a blast from Mark McGuire. His second for Editions Mego. This one is an ode to the summer night skies created using electric and acoustic guitar, vocals, and guitar-synthesizer. The first side is comprised of five short but sweet numbers. Kicking off with the lovely title track I sort of expected the guitars to bug me a bit as I struggled with some guitar parts on the last album but actually they're working out pretty good. 'When You're Somewhere' has some sweet acoustic layered guitar over and wrapped around some subtle but sufficient synths that help enhance the mood of this uplifting little tune. That's pretty much the case too for 'Alma' although the mood here is more melancholy. Mark's vocals work a treat here too. 'Another Dead End' is equal parts dramatic and psychedelic with some great playing that's both cerebral and quite melodic.
'Alma (Reprise) / Chances Are' strips things back to gentle synth and the vocal harmonies. A lazy comparison would be Panda Bear I guess but before things head too far in that direction synths build up to manic bleeping and stuttering with dreamy guitar. So that's it for the short tunes and I must say they're all concise and none really left me wanting more from them. The flipside is one twenty minute tune called 'Firefly Constellations' and it's a gentle and quite tender track. The fluid and very pretty synthesizer sounds are lush but rather than heading in a total cosmic direction the guitar anchors things evoking a more pastoral vibe. Pristine sounding recording throughout the record too. Listening to this record and bidding farewell to summertime makes me fell a little sad, although having said that the weather has been shit to say the least. Ah well, these tunes will keep that summer dream alive.