Trevor Montgomery is a craftsman. By day he's a skilled tile setter, a job taxing
to both the mind and body. By night he's an equally meticulous and hard working
musician, coaxing just the right tones out of his vintage drum machines and
synths to carry his tales of love and redemption. As a tile setter and as a musician,
his job is the same: assembling things of beauty to fill empty spaces.
Montgomery's previous album The Trickster (St. Ives) was inspired by his youth,
wandering in the woods, riding trains, taking meth and heavy psychedelics, and
narrowly cheating death on more than one occasion. On Navigated Like the
Swan, his debut under the Young Moon moniker, he emerges like a shaman from
the woods of his youth -- his darkness is filled with light, cynicism and macabre
fixations washed away by a revitalizing and intoxicating love.
It's no coincidence that the songs on Navigated Like the Swan are reminiscent
of a John Hughes soundtrack. In the 1980's after his parent's lost their business
and home, the self-described loner took refuge in his headphones and cable
television. Hughes' films are easy to love, but why? Because we see ourselves
in the vulnerable and awkward characters struggling to find someone who'll love
them warts and all. Like the best of Hughes' coming-of-age films, and their
personality-stamping soundtracks, Navigated... succeeds in documenting the
rare magic we're all searching for while navigating our day-to-day lives.
Almost 10 years after the release of his solo debut Songs for an Unborn Sun
(Temporary Residence), his somber baritone on tracks like ''Cold Day Solstice''
and ''Emma Jane'' sounds refined and confident, easily drawing comparisons to
Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen. Similarly, if you heard the remarkable ''A
Reason'' from a distance (in another room or a passing car) you might even think
you were hearing The Boss covering a Mazzy Star song.
01. The Crystal Text
02. Walk in White
03. Winds Light
04. Northern Earth
05. March
06. A Reason
07. Ages of Youth
08. Cold Day Solstice
09. On the Verge
10. Summit and Blue Air
11. Emma Jane
12. The Ponds
13. Painting of Waves