About Gmurray
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My first turn on the changer with Out There by The Unseen Guest was a big ‘Huh?” I didn’t get what was going on with the disc. It has this world music flair but the entire band consists of two guys Declan Murray and Amith Narayan. There is a feeling of mystic revelry, heavy on the percussion and violins. Some of the instruments used in making Out There are tablas, veena, mridangam, dholak and thavil (to name but a few). If I had to call it anything, I would refer it to gypsy music. But it is much more modern than that.
“Let Me In” starts out the recording as it shows vocal promise with Declan. The second song “In the Black” has a sad overtone but “So spare me some extra before you go/There’s a man who cashes checks at the liquor store” is an inspired hook. “Anywhere Somewhere” drones on like sitar music but without the resonance. The arrangement is sparse and relies on the vocal to keep the music going forward. There is almost a blues feel in “Listen My Son” but with a jaunty guitar part. It is the strongest single song on the disc. “Mangle Express” is an airy instrumental with strings and drums. “Sandalista” is more of a descriptive poem than a song but does paint a picture of an event. It could be a single on one of those world music stations.
I found the beat of “Out there” captivating, with its fat down stroke and catchy chorus of “and out there...”. There is some nice key work with the harmonium by Sunil Bhasker. “Circle in the dirt” feels like a blanket around your shoulders on a rainy day, just something warm and comforting. Lajoo G plays the harmonica on “One down” giving the experience of the song a haunting overcast emotion. Added with the almost nursery rhyme lyric, the tune feels different than the rest of the recording. The experience of Out There ends with “Never enough” a song that has the same droning beat as most of the catalog. After so many songs, this one just feels like overkill.
If I had to pigeon hole The Unseen Guest, I would say ‘think of Dead Can Dance but without the musicianship and vocal abilities.’ Too many of the songs just feel too similar. One or two tracks with these groves on a larger canvas of music would have been a more effective total package.
