Trace Mountains | Lost in the Country | Album Review

Lame-O Records

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Trace Mountains is known for their unique style of music, focusing on calm melodies and soft vocals. Their newest album, Lost in the Country was released on April 10, 2020.

Lost in the Country uses fewer synthetic sounds and instruments compared to their previous albums. As a result, their music is much more relaxing in their newest release.

“Rock & Roll” is the first song appearing on the album. This song tells a story about a person using music to navigate through tough internal times. The beginning of the song has instruments with simple rhythms to keep the calm nature of the song in check. Once the song is halfway through, the instruments start to crescendo in volume, and the electric guitar adds more layers to create interesting harmonies and melodies.

“Dog Country” keeps the same mood as the other songs, but it adds a twist. It adds a cello and violin to play long notes on open strings. This makes this track feel like a folk or country song rather than an alternative one. The lyrics are repetitive, similar to background tracks in movie montages. The goal of this song seems like it’s trying to be noise in the background rather than getting into listener’s heads like other pop songs.

“Lost in the Country” is one of their upbeat songs on the record. The bass guitar carries the song with a syncopated rhythm rather than playing on the beat with the drums. The lyrics are enunciated a bit more clearly compared to the other songs and as a result, listeners are more likely to tap their feet and sing along.

Trace Mountains’ calm nature offers a different music experience compared to mainstream music. This album improves on their instrumentation and vocals compared to their previous release.