LAZARUS
Songs For an Unborn Sun (Temporary Residence Ltd.)
Reviewed by Erick Mertz

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A former integral member of bands Tarentel and The Drift, lonely strumming minstrel Trevor Montgomery has struck out on his own and morphed into the ego/id clash called Lazarus. His tingly new album is Songs For An Unborn Sun and without giving away the plot, it's a midnight stumbling subway terminal piece of absolute brilliance.

Lazarus' vocal work on Songs For An Unborn Sun possesses a pairing of the shiny and bizarre like pickles and ice cream. It projects a delicious creepy quality, but not too much that it clashes with the tender frailty it develops slowly throughout its 50 minutes. Laid against a sleepy acoustic guitar, Trevor peals on and on, patiently confessing exhaustion and truth in drowning twisted tones. After one listen it is clear that Montgomery is the new millennial answer to Syd Barrett's wailing unpredictability. It is a heady thing, this psychedelic crown, but one he wears ably. The Lazarus incarnation on Songs For An Unborn Sun is droopy eyed without being lazy; it is weird sans the inaccessibility of overtly distant pathos. Maybe you've lost your love, or just lost your dog; either way, there is a moment crafted here for you. It might emerge in unexpected clothes, but remain open minded and you'll surely find it.

Or it will find you.

Speaking in terms of individual songs feels like an almost completely useless exercise. Songs For An Unborn Sun sounds, in its entirety, like the soundtrack to a flickering black and white dada film where the theme is hope and the hero must gather his courage and slay the demon within.

© 2003 - Erick Mertz