Letting the chaos play itself out

When Michelson Morley released their 2012 debut recording Aether Drift (F-Ire Presents) Jake McMurchie reckoned it had taken some 20 years to get his first CD made as a bandleader. Not that he’d been unbusy all that time, what with being a member of the highly productive (and successful) Get The Blessing and other jazz combos, but as a naturally collaborative person he’d never really taken control of a project before. Now the band are launching their follow-up Strange Courage (Babel Label) and it seems he’s still happy to take things steady, letting the album find a spacious and confident sound to take the listener on an intriguing electro-acoustic jazz journey.

The original trio of Jake (saxophone), Will Harris (bass) and Mark Whitlam (drums) has now been extended by Indigo Kid’s Dan Messore on guitar with all four using complex electronics to transform their sound palette. The new album opens atmospherically, with layered sounds gradually introducing a recurrent melodic phrase that swells and fades hypnotically. That track – Tamer As Prey – combines structured elements in a free jazz flux and this is clearly the formula for the rest of the album, though the album is far from formulaic and echoes of dance music grooves and even rock raunch slip in between soundscaping and delicate melodic jazz balladry. It’s a great, intelligent and original recording and critical response (Guardian 4*!) already suggests this could be a breakthrough for the band. While quietly pleased with the record Jake is still somewhat ambivalent about his leading role in creating it:

“I do guide it, yes, though I wouldn’t say firmly. I find it quite difficult to put myself in the controlling position – I’ve never had the Jake McMurchie Quartet, I’m more of a collaborator. But this was a specific choice in response to Get The Blessing because I was missing certain things … I wanted the music to be more open, more improvised, with more flexibility. Michelson Morley music is more about process than narrative: there might be ideas or rules for people to follow. The track Primitive One, for instance, was just produced from simple instructions because I had more of a visual idea about it. I encourage the others to contribute, to improvise and add something extra. Dan (Messore) has always been good at that and I try to get him not to ‘play guitar’ to see what happens. It’s an open process but in the end the music is still a very personal statement in letting other people do what they want!”

Aptly, however, the album closes with title track Strange Courage which is simply Jake and his saxes, albeit drenched in looping effects like In A Silent Way picked up on a faulty short wave radio. The track’s tension derives from the pull between that electronic storm and moments of hauntingly clear saxophone, yet, like the man himself, it seems the result is perfectly integrated and comfortable with letting the chaos play itself out. It may have taken 20 years to get this ball rolling but sometimes only experience counts.

Michelson Morley launch Strange Courage at the Wardrobe Theatre on Sunday, July 17 with support from Eyebrow and live visuals from Jo Mayes. For tickets and more information, visit www.thewardrobetheatre.com/livetheatre/michelson-morley/