The full-length debut of a band from Chicago by way of Madison, Wisconsin,
Moveys
follows a series of EPs that documented a major transformation for the group. Founded by childhood friends
Henry Stoehr
(guitar),
Alexander Leeds
(bass), and
Theodore Mathews
(drums),
Slow Pulp
made
Emily Massey
their lead singer only after she contributed guitar and backing vocals to their second EP, 2017s
EP2
. Their third extended play and first as a four-piece,
Big Day
, led to a tour with
Alex G
and record deal with
Winspear
. An album full of attractive, melancholy guitar atmospheres that takes a couple of abrupt diversions, the
Stoehr
-produced
settles in with the suffocating, electro-acoustic "New Horse." Mixing multiple picked acoustic guitar lines with low, murky synths and multi-tracked vocals, it launches the album into a dream state that considers the passage of time and the possibility of recovery. (
Massey
both suffered multiple fatigue-related health problems and returned to Madison to help her ailing parents in the lead-up to the album.) While much of
sticks to swaying, midrange tempos, they pick up the pace halfway through, on "At It Again," though the song hangs on to the, by then, well-established hazy, ruminative demeanor. Later, the ambling "Montana" incorporates slide guitar and harmonica without leaving this sighing, world-weary state. Where the album veers from its immersive mood is with "Whispers (In the Outfield)," an instrumental piano interlude by the singer's father, pianist
Michael Massey
, and the surprising final track, the hip-hop goof "Movey." ~ Marcy Donelson