L.W. MAJOR – WHERE THE SUN HITS THE TRAINS

‘Big dreams and humbling reality’ is how L.W. Major describes the journey of recording his debut album, Where the Hits the Trains. I’m sure this is no overstatement for the Sydney-based musician who not only wrote all nine songs, but also independently tackled the arduous task of recording them. But it’s a good thing Major has big dreams and what seems to be a romantic approach to the creative process. After overcoming the obstacles in using the recording equipment, he found ‘harmony and beauty to the experience’, along with joy in the many discoveries, such as sounds snare brushes make on biscuit tins and scrap paper for the percussion. These efforts offer results beyond his aim to create a laid-back album. The title track certainly kicks this off. It’s an instrumental with a contemplative mood and quiet, deliberate rhythm that feels like the steady roll of a moving train. But the faster-paced Shining Days, the story of an ongoing, uncomplicated tryst; A Bigger Picture, a deliberation on fate and the last track – Sally, another instrumental capturing the pleasure and pain of love, invoke something deeper than he intended. While variations of the same picking pattern appear in each song, sounding repetitive at times, his intricate and melodic technique along with his simple, direct words create a mood of melancholic reflection, which feels magical due to the emotions stirred. Although a self-defined Indie artist, Major also seems strongly influenced by folk, channelling the style from its heyday where a poet was armed with a guitar and told stories through a seamless fusion of lyric and sound. Download the full album @ www.myspace.com/lancewilliammajor

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