The Secret Migration

The Secret Migration

by Mercury RevMercury Rev

Overview

Once upon a time, these upstate New Yorkers seemed hell-bent on launching themselves into the outer realms of the solar system with their wide-open space-rock jams and interstellar lyrics. As The Secret Migration proves, they're far more comfortable on terra firma these days -- so much so that they've made this concept album something of an homage to Mother Nature. The band's sound is still remarkably lush, still undeniably "psychedelic," but -- on songs like the pastoral, piano-laced "Secret for a Song" -- there's a newfound warmth, a sense of hominess that could only come from a long stretch nestled in the middle of nowhere. That adds to the burnished beauty of "Across Yer Ocean," which follows a parabolic arc that recalls nothing so much as a rainbow rising over a mist-shrouded hillside. Nature motifs pop up again and again here, but they're not uniformly bucolic, as evidenced by the sinister guitar lines that Grasshopper plunges into the heart of "Black Forest (Lorelei)." As ever, the band pay very close attention to detail, particularly in the disc's sequencing, gradually ramping up tempos and volume, peaking on the Spector-esque "In a Funny Way" and again on the tympani-powered "Arise." Rev mainman Jonathan Donohue has never been shy about stretching for things that seem to be out of his reach, but that willingness to risk a psychic spill -- and the ability to transform those emotional skinned knees into beautiful music -- is what makes the band so special.

Product Details

Release Date: 03/01/2005
Label: V2 Int'l
UPC: 5033197292328
catalogNumber: 102923
Rank: 11700

Tracks

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Mercury Rev   Primary Artist
Jonathan Donahue   Group Member
Adam Peters   Track Performer,Musician
Adam Widoff   Track Performer,Musician
Jeff Mercel   Group Member
Sean "Grasshopper" Mackowiak   Group Member
Rich Robinson   Track Performer,Musician
Mary Gavazzi Fridmann   Track Performer,Musician
Carlos Anthony Molina   Group Member

Technical Credits

Mercury Rev   Composer,Producer
Kevin Salem   Engineer
Jonathan Donahue   Composer
Dave Fridmann   Producer
Scott Petito   Engineer
Matthew Cullen   Engineer
Jeff Mercel   Composer
Todd Vos   Engineer
Bill Racine   Engineer
Max Avery Lichtenstein   Engineer
Amonda Wachob   Cover Art

Customer Reviews