Moss King is the latest LP perennial greenskeeper of sound and Moon Glyph honcho Steve Rosborough, performing as Omni Gardens. Calling Steve's smooth meandering synth trills and trails "plant music" would seem derisive, but the plants in my living room would beg to differ. I've been playing the album for them the last few days and they've really seemed to blossom in Moss King's presence (more regular waterings haven't hurt either).
There is a flowing sense of deliberation that underscores tracks like "Watering Plants," a serene state of imagination, reminiscent of a meditation on Hiroshi Yoshimura's Green as one watches diamond-shaped beads evaporate off blades of grass following a rain. "Cool Off" possesses a similar fascination with motion and water while revealing an intimacy that is equally humble and esoteric, like performing a private recital for the sea.
The middle track "Drawing A Rainbow" marks a transition point for the album where reflections on terrestrial life become inverted in order to face the vast ocean of stars and inky expanses above, a transition achieved through a tubular glide up a reverse rabbit hole. After which Moss King etches an elegant arch over a crescent waxy synth tone, shining like a dazzling cascade of starlight on "Far-Out Greens" before calmly drifting out into the frontier of the cosmos on the "Algae After All."
The album then comes full circle with the warm drizzling coo of "Oolong," a final parting gift that feels like you are steeping in a bath of herbal tea heated by the distant blaze of a thousand stars. Who knows the places Moss King could take you if you gave it the time it needs to grow on you? Speaking from my own experience, I've only begun to experience the benefits of its carefully cultivated beauty.
