Martin Craft is a composer and a producer who currently resides at Berlin, London and Joshua Tree. He is performing under a stage name M. Craft and, so far, had released six EPs and three full length albums, While he was living in Canberra, he played in a psychedelic band Sidewinder, post-known as The Zillions, alongside his brother Nick Craft.
The rife audience noticed him with I Can See It All Tonight. Both the critics and the audience recognized him as an author who managed to create a peculiar connection between bossa nova, acoustic guitar and dream pop guided by a mellifluous vocal oriented towards folk.
His latest effort is titled Blood Moon, and I proclaim it his best release yet. After the life in London, he moved back to Los Angeles and started recording Blood Moon in the studio at the desert. He was spending days in complete isolation. His proclivity to sequester himself was all for creativity. By being far from city noise and urban lifestyle, he allowed the silence and the nature left their footprint on Blood Moon.
When listening to the album, it takes you to the areas where only animals speak, where only nature preens, where only rain and trees smell. The harmony of nature is perfectly articulated. Even so, the album is so harmonious and dignified in its simplicity that it sounds just like spending time in nature. M. Craft captured the essence of the desert silence and turned it into music. Yes, this is a paradox, but it’s the paradox that makes Blood Moon a masterpiece. Craft noted that the silence is never a silence when you are surrounded by nature.
Structurally, the pivot of the album is in the piano. This is not a typical folk album, rather a soundtrack of existing in nature. The style falls somewhere in between Bon Iver and Sufjan Stevens. Still, M. Craft leans towards dream-pop and acoustic, even ambient expression. Chemical Trails and Morphic Fields prove my point.
Love is The Devil is a gorgeous piano ballade that starts almost as Last Flowers To Hospital by Radiohead, but it turns to something mellow. Soft and subtle vocal are permeating into your heart here.
My and My Shadow is probably my favorite track. Balance between the vocal and the instrument, and bewilderment of lyrics is what made me flood my basement. Where Go The Dreamers closes the album and cements M. Crafts’ status as the indie musician who is the most connected with the nature.
