Strange Pilgrim

"Strange Pilgrim is the self-titled debut by the Oregon-based former Port O'Brien drummer Joshua Barnhart under his new project name, taken from (...) a collection of short stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez ... A generally moody and often soulful affair (...), it opens with the five-minute More Than I Did, a cascade of chiming guitar and keyboard notes giving way to dreamy, hushed vocals as he sings about not taking love for granted, leading into the Lennon-tinged Staring at the Sky, the narcotic strangeness of the sound as it gathers reflecting its genesis in a psychedelic mushroom experience with friends, sitting watching the sunset ... Equally sonically blissed with a rippling drums pattern and an undulating guitar wave [is] Brighter Horizon, with its Beach Boys-styled vocal harmonies ... The penultimate track, The Mirror, Beatles-esque psychedelic pop, finds him battling an identity crisis ... It ends with No Relief, a number written in the early years of the California drought, with George Harrison-sounding guitars and orchestral string arrangements by Barnhart's father Robe (who's done similar duty for CS&N and The Beach Boys) who also played cello, a final flourish of sun-kissed late 60s West Coast musical gold. While the album may have its roots in existential angst, ultimately, it seeks to fly on wings of hope".

Read review