GREAT MUSIC FOR BEING IN MOTION

Sounds of Freedom M. Scorgie

∆∆∆∆ out of five

We’re all pretty loud these days, somehow appalled that everyone else can also make as much noise — and so in horror we amplify what they said even louder than they did in our ever-escalating spin cycle. And while all that collective noise is an important part of democracy, it’s also OK to take an occasional mental health break from the philosophical battlefield.

Enter Edmonton ex-pat M. Scorgie’s new, 11-song, electro-instrumental album, Sounds of Freedom, full of wonder and playful musical collisions.

Overall calm and extremely pleasant, the album’s title track builds into the frenetic and mirrors the dynamic this article opened with, a series of peaceful notes becoming cacophonic.

Next, the album’s first single, The Traveller (yay for the Canuck spelling!), is the most radio-friendly song offered, its organ accents practically arena-worthy.

Summoning a retro Jean Michel Jarre vibe, 2119 (my favourite) is actually a more fitting soundtrack to the Tron sequel than what Daft Punk came up with (best part of the film, don’t get me wrong).

Bubbling up from the radioactive depths yet stealthily avoiding any copyright conflicts is the generically named Japanese Monster, nice and ominous — terrifying, actually — while The Forest subsequently does a remarkable job of summoning the noisy waking up of an ecosystem as all the blissful little murderers arise to their daily quest to eat the hell out of each other, mandible to mouth.

Next up, Spicy Boi is a tonguein-cheek-swab update of John Travolta strutting down the sidewalk, with just enough of an undertone of self-doubtful, unsure cat meows to make it recognizably modern and nervous. This leads into the more confident One Quarter Freak, where, like on The Traveller, you can actually discern some deeply buried autotune lyrics, including a fist-pounding AC/DC chorus heard out the window from three floors down.

Bastille Day is not quite as head-chopping as its name hints, but the holiday reference does match the summertime vibe when the album was released, which is to say right about now. It’s a melty, decompression-chamber sort of work, like most of the songs comfortably as off Earth as on, including the also-bubbly Disco Pony and, finally, Domino Effect — a calmafter-the-storm, “OK, I can do this” digestif.

Like Kraftwerk’s more coherent themed albums, Scorgie’s Sounds of Freedom is perhaps best heard in motion — it gets better the faster you ride — and a special nod to Rena Kozak who mastered it.

Can’t wait to hear the next one, apparently already coming together. You can find the album on Spotify and Apple Music.

OK, back to your regularly scheduled existential conflicts. Good luck!