Mount Eerie - Now Only (Album Review)

 

Mount Eerie - Now Only

(2018)

My copy: 2018 press by P.W. Elverum & Sun.

Now Only follows 2017’s A Crow Looked At Me in which Phil Elverum chronicles in excruciating detail the agony of losing his wife Genevieve Castree to cancer. Now Only is essentially a direct sequel to the previous album, albeit with slightly more instrumentation and wider musical ideas. This album is also conceptually a continuation as the more elaborate compositions walk hand-in-hand with the lyrical themes of slowly and painfully moving on from tragedy. 

“Tintin In Tibet” is just as painful lyrically as some tracks on A Crow Looked At Me but this time Elverum recounts positive memories and fondly reminisces about the onset of his relationship with his late wife through stream on consciousness style spoken word passages. There are now slight percussive elements and other instruments such as keys, that help fill the album into more than just recorded poetry. 

Despite only containing six tracks, Now Only is actually longer than its predecessor due to the length of the individual songs. Though “Distortion” is nearly 11 minutes long, it goes by much faster due to the direct and captivating manner in which Elverum relays his stories and emotions. Elverum has a distinct talent for transforming what might otherwise be mistaken as rambling into a more thematic concept by weaving a variety of topics into the story he is telling the audience. Piano accompanies guitars and dense feedback growls on some songs. Elverum also layers his vocals across the album, adding tasteful harmonies. 

“Now Only” is the star of the show with its bittersweet descending instrumental hook. It almost feels wrong for one of these songs to be stuck in your head considering the incredibly personal and emotional subject material, but Elverum defies this by adding a musically upbeat and catchy chorus to “Now Only” that seems to draw from alt-country philosophies. “Now Only” is also a lyrically dense gut-punch that bounces from speaking to the absurdity of playing “death songs” to large festival crowds to reflecting on the painful truth that life does go on after the passing of a loved one. Full drums appear on “Earth” which features some ambitious mixing concepts and warm organ tones while Elverum speaks about his now motherless daughter. 

“Two Paintings By Nikolai Astrup” is the most interesting song conceptually as Elverum draws comparisons between his wife and two pieces of art that are important to him. Musically, “Two Paintings…” bounces between tension and airy instrumentals. “Crow Pt. 2” picks up from where its counterpart on A Crow Looked At Me left off and touches on the perspective of Elverum’s daughter having lost a mother at such a young age. 

Now Only and A Crow Looked At Me are such difficult records to look at critically. Yes, the instrumentals and compositions are somewhat lacking but it almost feels insane to criticize the music while the focus is obviously on the introspective and heartfelt words which Elverum has bravely sent out into the world so that others may glean some wisdom or relatability. Elverum is truly a poet, and this album is important for being such a candid look into the uncomfortable and sometimes embarrassing aspects of loss. On Now Only, Elverum realizes he must swallow the truth that we are meant to keep living in spite of losing people we care deeply for. Elverum has succeeded in creating some of the most emotionally visceral poems available in music form, and Now Only further explores the universal nature of human feelings.

    If you want to experience this album via the vinyl, buy it through Phil's website.