Columbia band The Lemon Settlement offers delightfully dizzy 'Discovery'
A fresh case for the album as a start-to-finish art form arrives with "The Spirit of Discovery," from Columbia band The Lemon Settlement.
The aptly-titled set isn't meant to be read like a novel or painting, something narrative and self-contained, but encountered more like a gallery exhibit. These 15 mood pieces surround listeners, rearranging something within, a color or line or fragment at a time.
If labels really help, "The Spirit of Discovery" is something like madhouse power pop or dark-Zen indie rock. Actually, just listen — the mystery will both solve itself and expand.
Although every song here — save one — is written and voiced by Michael Martin, this truly is an all-hands effort; the five-piece band features Todd Lombardi, Dave Morrison, Jon Lamb and Kevin Fasken. And, in total, nearly 20 musicians receive credit, contributing everything from guitar and drums to horns, Moog, Ebow and "banter."
The collective vibe sounds through the wind-into-place title track, which kicks off the album. "Do the Disco Down," the first "proper" song, skates the darker edge of psychedelia with vocals that dip and dive, blissfully fuzzy guitars and trance-like keyboard passages.
From here, magnetic moments abound: how the guitar hits as "Jamie Lynn (Again & Again)" turns around; the perfect interplay between lead guitar and bass that animates "The Ghost Among Us"; and the guitar riff guiding the all-too-brief "When Tina King Became Queen," which deserves serious praise.
Nearly every note from nearly every instrument seems to bend, toward some elusive source of light the band pursues.
For all the delightful moving parts, specific songs emerge as complete statements worth stepping inside. The melody driving the jangly "Hand Me Downs (From Your Eyes)" would hit in nearly any decade, and "The Original Averson (So Brave)" starts like a dizzy slice of college rock before abiding piano- and horn-driven E Street Band passages. "Turn Your Fortune Around" sounds like a vital transmission from some far-off radio.
Throughout, Martin's buzzy baritone evokes singers like The Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt and Lambchop's Kurt Wagner, granting these songs suitable weirdness and a compelling charm. The band's players, and their peers, never once lose the plot, making all these minor revolutions add up to something great.
"The Spirit of Discovery," the album — and the very idea itself — is delirious and disorienting, yet deeply immersive. The record forms a wild and meaningful ride.
Learn more about The Lemon Settlement at https://thelemonsettlement.bandcamp.com/.
Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@columbiatribune.com or by calling 573-815-1731. He's on Twitter/X @aarikdanielsen.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Columbia band The Lemon Settlement offers delightfully dizzy 'Discovery'
