Calling somebody’s music genre-bending has become something of a well-worn-out term these days simply since so many artists have been taking that route. That route can be quite exciting and adventurous, bringing along some intriguing music, but also, it could turn out to be confusing, chaotic (in a bad sense of the term), and, well, not quite listenable.
Luckily for Australian multi-instrumentalist (guitar, bass, keyboards, percussion, drums, drum programming), composer and producer Stephen Murray, who works under the moniker of Sun Raven, his prog/post-rock/heavy rock/fusion combo seems to be on the former spectrum of things, as he amply shows on his third album Anam Cara.
Here, Murray stays within the darker spectrum of all the genres he tries to (and ultimately does) fit in the 10 instrumental compositions here, where his ability to do so successfully lies not only with his detailed knowledge of all the musics he fits in here, but also with the delicate balance between those that makes Sun Raven’s musical kaleidoscope actually work.
Musical references? Quite a few here from John Carpenter and Mogwai to Russian Circles, Tool and Godspeed! You, Black Emperor, as well as another genre-hopper, that is Steve Tibbets.
And while Sun Raven’s genre-hopping could sound a bit complex on paper, Stephen Murray, its creator, makes it sound as if these sounds were always bound to be together.
