Magazine Sixty Music Review with boycalledcrow

Greg Fenton reviews boycalledcrow – the sprawl – Mortality Tables

One man and his guitar. Sometimes the story ends there. But as years of listening will tell you, this particular guitar has produced a long run of surreal, spine‑tingling, emotional work — and this new album continues that lineage with fresh ideas and rediscoveries.

What first appears across the tracks as a straightforward musical progression is repeatedly diverted by strange, creative turns: sounds and arrangements that feel fantastical, pulling you into a landscape shaped by intention rather than cliché. It isn’t “otherworldly” in the dull, familiar sense, but something more defiant, delivered with passionate, tangled grace — a kind of disruptive communication expressed through tone and texture.

The album often plays like two halves of a game: the rich, epic bounty of Bone Eater sits beside the dazzling pastoral glow of Angle. These contrasts spark against the languid funk of the title track, while other pieces move toward darker, more intriguing corners. This emotional divergence and questioning sense of self produces a sequence of highs and lows, making the record a thrilling proposition to savour.

As the album reaches its mysterious final echoes, Atlas and Orb guide your escape home — though the route feels grainy, unknown, and all the more compelling for it.

Release: September 11
Boycalledcrow
Mortality Tables Bandcamp