I liked the snippet of the song enough to remember the name when I saw folks mention the great new album from Moreland that had just been released. I decided to hit the search bar, visit Moreland’s Bandcamp site and listen to the album on the stream.

The sound was the first thing that hit me. The songs sounded full. That being said, I don’t mean layer and layer of instrumentation. This was the tasteful fullness of an elegant dinner as opposed to the fullness associated with overflowing the plate during a night of gluttony at the Golden Corral. The songs developed musically and followed the mood projected by Moreland’s narratives.

That’s where the album truly shines, the narratives. This is not an album of bright-eyed pop music from someone who has never felt sadness, this is a walk through the real world. It’s a look at the Oklahoma landscape Moreland has known throughout his life. Failed relationships, longing, understanding and an attempts at resolving one’s issues come to the forefront on the album.

There are highlights throughout each song. Normally in a review, I’d break down songs for you to check out, but to me, this album is best taken in as a collection of songs creating a complete work, not singles to cherry-pick. The cohesion from track to track is impressive. The songs seem to build from each other as they move along, which is something missing from so many albums these days.

After I listened to the streaming album, I dropped the $8 Moreland has the album priced at and have let it play over and over on my computer and car stereo. Do yourself a favor, check out what is being called one of, if not THE best album of the year by places like No Depression, Ninebullets.net and, well, us.

Go listen here.