I discovered Freeclouds around a year ago via a sample on Chuquimamani-Condori's "Find Me 220324" NTS show. Vocals from 'Murderous Joy' blended into one of Chuquimamani's nostalgically saturated soundscapes. At first, I actually thought this was a country track. After a few listens I realized that this album is a beautiful collage of genres; it's hard to give it a label. Songs like "Gauze of Song" and "Saturday" give this album a rooted folk / alt-country feel, but Tanton blends in completely independent Shoegaze / Dream-Pop tracks like "Fake Pretend" and "Land Lines". Yet he combines gentle guitar plucking with a drum machine to evoke a kind of unsettled, confused state in 'Pasture Sounds'. This album blends many different sounds together and I love that Tanton wasn't afraid to experiment.

My favorite tracks on this album were the folksy ones, but lyrically rich ones. I really liked intro track 'Murderous Joy' for its introspective storytelling. Tanton gives us a sneak peek of the story this album is to tell. His densely layered poetic illustrations of self development take a second to harvest meaning from, but present a compelling protagonist. Also there's some dark Bon Iver esque vocals in the middle of this song that evoke strong feelings struggle followed by sounds and lyrics of triumph.

Overall, it's an amazing album. I found myself appreciating more of the tracks after giving them a couple listens spending time deciphering the lyrics. I despise the criticism Pitchfork gave about Tanton not having "lyrical" talent. To me, the poetry and symbolism are beautiful and I dislike that a critic would dismiss the songs simply because they expected straightforward, simple pop lyrics that are easy to digest. The combination of thoughtful lyricism combined with the record's eclectic blend of sounds makes this a compelling album I'd recommend to all kinds of music fans.