Bill MacKay

Seems like MacKay’s always finding his way onto the site in the past few years, and thankfully 2024 is no different. A consummate collaborator, past releases have seen him opposite Nathan Bowles, Katinka Kleijn, and Cooper Crain, but it’s been a while since its just been Bill above the fold. Following up his excellent album, Fountain Fire, Mackay has crafted an album that captures his works at their most plaintive, and often at their most patient. The bulk of the material here is instrumental, slipping away from some of the bluegrass he’d explored with Bowles, and tightening up the experimental screws from his works with Kleijn and Crain. The works are often clean and calm, buffeted by a skitter of drums from Mikel Patrick Avery (Natural Information Society, BASIC), wrapped in piano and organ cushions.

When he strays from the instrumental angle, as he does on “Hall of You,” the warmth remains, exploring comforts with a touch of Nick Drake in the air. Alternately, “When I Was Here raises a bit of fuss with and ode to change and discomfort. Paired with “Radiator” the middle arc breaks the spell of the album’s pastoral splendor, but MacKay winds them into the wonders of Locus Land — a litany of earth tones and autumnal colors that feel like we’re already headed for the close of the Summer. Bundle Up.

Support the artist. Buy it HERE.