Album Review: Message to Bears - Maps

Nashville – Maps is the third full-length album from Jerome Alexander, the multi-talented British artist who goes by the moniker Message to Bears. The album sounds as though Alexander never came down from the slow-motion, rainbow clouds he rode on his first album, Folding Leaves. Acoustic guitar, synth, and Auto-tuned vocal loops fold over each other, creating visceral soundscapes that are just right for losing oneself in on a rainy day. The song “Rather Stay” even opens with a sample of the sound of a rainstorm.

Jerome Alexander plays most of the instruments on his albums and also self-records and produces all of his music. His first EP released in 2007, creatively titled EP1, found modest success among the ambient electronic scene.

Message to Bears is unabashedly kin to that collection of artists such as Washed Out, Nightlands, and Bibio who revel more in the elusive feeling of songs rather than structure. Many of the songs on Maps sound as though Bibio might have made them while on opiates. The reverse looped guitar is there, as are the naturalistic samples so characteristic of Bibio. This album is decidedly slower-paced and gloomier than much of the music we’ve seen in this genre over the past couple years though. Whereas some of these artists have integrated pop sensibilities into their music, Maps moves at a glacial pace.

This isn’t to say that the album is a boring wash. Message to Bears dips into Auto-tune and the delayed beats of trip-hop on “Rather Stay” and on the album opener “Sun Breaking Through,” lending an R&B feel to those songs. The choral beat on “Moonlight” is downright catchy, and “Two Finds Two” is fully fleshed at its climax before letting go and repeating the song’s mantra, “What made you run?” Live strings weave in and out of the album, providing a sweep of grace on songs like “Love to Fall” and “You Are a Memory.” They complement the body of the songs, which are, of course, synthesized.

Maps sounds like Message to Bears is playing Jenga with his music as he piles layers of sound over each other before letting the tower of hopes and questions crash at the end. It isn’t pushing the low-fi, folktronica genre further than it’s gone. But it is relatable in its slow-paced haze, especially as winter sets in around the northern hemisphere. It’s definitely worth a spin on the next rainy day.

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Caroline McDonald

My first memory is of singing Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” quietly to myself during preschool naptime. Perhaps it’s because I’m from Nashville where an instrument lives in every home, but music has gripped me for as long as I can remember.

After dabbling in many parts of the music industry—recording studios, PR, management, labels, publishing—I’m expanding into music journalism because I’m yet to find anything more rewarding that finding and sharing new music.

A longtime sucker for girls with guitars, my musical taste unabashedly follows the songwriting lineage of Dolly Parton and includes Patty Griffin, Gillian Welch, and Neko Case. But not to pigeonhole myself, my music love is big love that stretches from R.L. Burnside to Animal Collective to Lord Huron.

I’ve recently moved home to Nashville after living in Boston and Big Sur for several years. I’d forgotten how music pours onto the streets ten hours a day, seven days a week. I’m honored to share the creative explosion happening here. If your band is in the area or of the area, please reach out!