I admire the cross-section of musical moods I hear on Will Rainier's new album Wobble in the Moon. He makes it sound as effortless as breathing.
It isn't that way, of course. There's always labor involved. There's choosing the right players for a given song, production choices to make, track listing, and delineating between what ideas make the grade and which ones fail critical smell tests. Of course, there's writing the songs as well.
The ten tracks included on Wobble in the Moon, however, sound as if they spontaneously burst into being. Or, perhaps more fittingly, mysteriously coalesced. There's an insular quality defining these songs and I hear it from the first. "The Patio" uses a first-person point of view to reflect on long-term connections, shared experiences, and a weary sense of chagrin over what we've lost and cannot regain. It has lyrical aspects, as well, thanks to the song's piano playing. Rainier has a long-standing collaboration with wife Jen Garrett and she provides superb backing vocals for this cut.
"Are You Waving Goodbye?" gives her a much bigger role. This country duet, cut with a splash of folkie charm, has the classic heartbroken tilt we hear in the classics of the genre. Much of this is thanks to Raymond Richards' tasteful pedal steel guitar. Rainier began recording Wobble in the Moon with the intention of releasing an acoustic guitar-focused record, sparse with little added adornments, and we hear that reflected in nearly every song, including this one.
Kevin Suggs takes over pedal steel duties for the track "Your Machine". It's a song, like a handful of others on the release, that dispenses with drums and/or percussion. It relies instead on a glimmering web of electric, acoustic, and pedal steel guitar with a smattering of post-production effects to cast its spell. The country music influence continues exerting itself in a major way.
"Wobble in the Moon" shares the same characteristics. Some may feel like a lack of identifiable percussion or drumming is a strike against the songs that leaves them untethered. Those listeners don't understand Rainier's intentions in following that path. Wobble in the Moon's songs emerge as if out of a fog, quickly taking shape for the listeners, but never entirely sacrificing their effervescent glisten.
There's a light amount of percussion present during "Endless". It's one of Wobble in the Moon's more pensive efforts without ever sounding too obscure. Rich backing vocals sweeten Rainier's singing and add a great deal to the performance. "Mushroom Gnome & Golden Boy" supply rewarding evidence of Rainier's musical imagination with its unexpected trumpet playing. The storytelling component of the track is another pleasant surprise, as well, and connects with listeners despite its offbeat nature.
It's hard to pin down Will Rainier's Wobble in the Moon. I hear plenty of country music influence, but it hardly stops there. He has a flexible grip on the material that allows him to bend and shape it in myriad ways and this elasticity pays off for one of 2023's most fulfilling outings from anyone.
