Semblance

Album review

Toronto's Seth Nyquist—MorMor—is hard to pin down, stylistically speaking. He makes what has been called psych-pop, but that's spiked with bits of R&B. He's a tenor who can also perform breath-taking leaps into a higher register. Even his songwriting is out of the ordinary; Nyquist has said he will get an idea for a sound, and work backward until he's found it. One thing that's certain: He is creating something intriguing. On his debut full-length album, he finds a way to produce music that appears tissue-thin but also has real weight to it on "Dawn," his voice sounding as clear and beautiful as Marvin Gaye's. The groovy bass and tremolo falsetto on "Far Apart" feel more Prince-like than some of Prince's later work. "Here It Goes Again" is a cafe-pop take on the Supremes' special brand of moodiness. Nyquist has said he was raised under the influence of classic Motown and that he was drawn to his first favorite song, The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever," because of its melancholy nature—and that's all neatly distilled in this song. "Chasing Ghosts" is more upbeat than much of the ambient ("Crawl") and easygoing indie pop ("Seasons Change") here. There is an almost INXS-like bassline and sonic bursts of fuzzy '90s indie guitar, behind vocals about someone gorging on feel-good vibes: "Now you're burning out before me/ You'll dance until the rhythm stops." And "Don't Cry" takes a totally different turn, bringing in brutalist Chicago-industrial drums, blissed-out synth washes and Nyquist's haunted, hushed voice delivering pernicious lyrics: "Eyes covered, took your word/ The light dies each time I lose sight/ Couldn't take the shame each night," he sings, sounding literally breathless by the end. "Days End" demands you pay attention, shifting as it does from a silky-sheets promise for what the night might bring, to—after completely dropping out at the two-minute mark—a stripped-down track from the POV of the night having mostly passed: "Waiting on the sun to rise" to fall in love. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz