On his first solo work since 2021's
Clara
,
Scott Morgan
delivers an album that might be peak
Loscil
. Where
and the
Lawrence English
collaborations
Colours of Air
and
Chroma
brought brilliant clarity to his music,
Lake Fire
is an often stunning reminder of
Morgan
's way with shadows and fog -- or in this case, smoke. Inspired by a road trip into the Vancouver mountains near areas engulfed by wildfire, the album calls to mind the misty depths of works such as
Sketches from New Brighton
, particularly on "Arrhythmia," which begins
with seismic pulses and dense textures that will sound instantly welcoming to longtime
fans. Like
, which brought new life to a piece composed for a string orchestra,
began as a suite of electro-acoustic compositions that
reworked radically. "Ash Clouds," an expansive exercise in tension that featuring
James Meager
on double bass, was the only piece to survive the creative transformation unscathed, but traces of the album's origins can be heard in "Bell Flame" as its layers of counterpoint build into a ghostly orchestra. Like new growth after a forest fire,
's cycle of destruction and rebirth takes on distinct but equally compelling forms, from the soothing, breath-like flow of "Doux"'s swelling echoes to the somber anticipation of "Silos"' shivering tones and fathomless bass. As always,
's pieces aren't just ambiences. They're detailed environments, like the gusts of shimmering synths on "Flutter" that evoke ashes carried on the wind, or the piano melody that rises from "Candling"'s swirling mist like trees emerging from smoke.
unites the album's strengths on its outstanding title track, telling a story of encroaching devastation and its aftermath without ever going into the red. Finely nuanced shades of gray are all he needs on
, a formidable, beautiful return to
's fundamentals. ~ Heather Phares