forest marchini - bridges

Forest Marchini

Bridges
self-released; 2013

3.6 out of 5

Forest Marchini started his love affair with music at a very tender age, eventually beginning to try his hand at song-writing at 13, embracing genres as diverse as grunge to rock-classical hybrid. "Bridges" strays from the rich arrangement and orchestral compositions in favor of a more intimate, stripped down approach putting piano and vocals under the spotlight. This record was completely self-written and self-produced by forest, and this makes for very minimal aesthetics, with songs evoking a canned - lit environment, not only because the mood of the recordings, but also because of the highly introspective and poetic nature of the lyrical work, that in a way bring his music close to artists the likes of Ellott Smith or Nick Drake, but trading the acoustic guitar for the haunting and embracing piano compositions.

The album starts with "Mind the Gap" which  is an emotional piano ballad which displays his diverse vocal range. The lyrics avoid typical cliche's and vary in ambiguity and imagery.  Other songs such as "Porcelain" and "The Observer" were highlights among the songs. That being said the song-writing here is top-notch and proves you don't need other players if you are incredibly skilled at one instrument. Overall, this is a solid, honest and emotional record that manages to sound accomplished with very little in the mix.

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