(2021) Roy Montgomery - That Best Forgotten Work


Review:
Roy Montgomery, a pioneer of the NZ underground, believes there is always new sonic terrain to investigate. His latest series of albums for Grapefruit marks forty years of rigorous exploration in which he’s managed to navigate disparate genres, scenes, and atmospheres, always at the forefront of experimental independent music. To commemorate, Grapefruit will be releasing four new Montgomery albums in 2021 which can be purchased individually or via subscription. The first installment, Island of Lost Souls, arrived to great acclaim in January. The second and latest album His Best Forgotten Work features Montgomery’s rare, brooding vocals across nine gorgeous tracks recorded from his home in Christchurch, New Zealand. His Best Forgotten Work follows the intense, all-instrumental Island of Lost Souls. It departs in spirit with darkly buoyant variations on popular songs, including two highly anticipated covers of legendary songs by the Carpenters (Superstar) and Tim Buckley (Song to the Siren). Montgomery shows us that these influences aren’t such strange bedfellows after all; one need only listen closely. Where some might be inclined to relax and lean into their legacy at this stage in a sprawling career, Montgomery’s new music continues to seek and challenge. His compositions are beautiful as well as disconcerting, and often speak to precarity and dread. His Best Forgotten Work is a title with tongue planted firmly in cheek, alluding to the artist’s position of enjoying a peculiar bit of fame in relative obscurity. But listen to his dry wit and rich voice, you’ll find it isn’t easily forgotten.





Track Listing:
1.Fluked 02:47
2.Pranged 04:38
3.Superstar 05:12
4.Sylvia And Schopenhauer 05:03
5.Reflukedr 01:28
6.Pretty 04:49
7.Shoulder 03:31
8.Meet Me 04:45
9.Song to the Siren 07:44


Media Report:
Genre: ambient, post-rock
Country: New Zealand
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits