Artist Making Waves: Ancient Mariner [indie folk / indie rock]

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Hailing from Aurora, Colorado, Gabriel Jorgensen, the young man behind the folky project Ancient Mariner, has released two tracks in the past couple months that are taken from his soon-to-be-released debut EP entitled In Solitude. As the title hints, the extended play was written one lonely night in which "every terrible thing inside of [Jorgensen] was revealed, and set before [him]" after he had taken a break from playing, writing, and even listening to music for a period of time. On top of that, he even recorded the EP in a small isolated cabin in the Rocky Mountains.

After listening to the first two tastes of In Solitude, "Acedia" and the title track, it's evident that the tranquility of the mountain cabin and Jorgensen's haunting writing experience have reflected well onto the recordings. "Acedia", which means apathy or indifference, is a rich, fast-moving song that starts off with a resonant acoustic guitar melody and busy, textured drumming and then some distorted, hypnotizing synths creep in to accompany Jorgensen's smooth vocals (that reminds me of Thom Yorke at times and wouldn't sound out of place in a Local Natives song) and slip away just in time for the beautiful electric guitar hook and Jorgensen's melodic "ooohs" that occupy the final verse and coda. On the other hand, the title track, "In Solitude", is a slower, more meditative song carried again by Jorgensen's delicate voice and another nice acoustic guitar riff, but it swaps the synths and electric guitar for chimy keyboards and a dark, ominous string section.

With these first songs so different from one another I'm excited to hear the rest of what Ancient Mariner has to offer on his forthcoming debut. Keep an eye out, like I'll be doing, for In Solitude, being released sometime soon.