Peter Mclean - moments until twilight

Peter Mclean

moments until twilight
self-released; 2015

3.3 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

Peter Mcclean has been an active musician within Ottawa, Canada for years. He was playing weddings and bars and wanted to take a break from playing covers so decided make an album full of originals entitled moments until twilight. I have to admit I have an ambivalent relationship with this album. There were some songs which I wholeheartedly gave two thumbs up and others I could barely get through. Luckily, the good outweighed the bad and found the overall experience enjoyable.

Musically, McLean is all over the place . He even says that his album has been described as having a 60’s 70’s and 80’s sound. I can back that up and also say there are some styles like a Peter Gabriel pop/dance vibe that he pulls off quite well. Moments until twilight is a complete DIY project and even though the sound can’t compete with that of a respected professional studio it is above average for a DIY.

Moments until twilight starts off on the right foot with “Fall For Anything”. The music was an engaging, eclectic mix of instruments. There are a lot of disparate textures and tones which work well together when combined. The guitar work on this song is technically savvy and creatively impressive. The next track “Temporary Face” has some decent success but not as much the first track.

My ambivalent relationship with the album starts with “Love”. The song sounds like a corny karaoke song and Mclean also has a hard time hitting certain notes like when he sings “Yet all the people around the world “. I was losing faith in the initial impressive start.

Somehow McLean completely redeems himself with “Borders”. It’s the highlight of the album and certainly has the most memorable chorus. It’s funky, fun and has a disco vibe. He sounds great when he sings “How dare you speak a different language How dare you raise a different flag“.

As the album progresses McLean never eclipses “Borders”. The closest he gets is the closer “I Am”. There are a number of things that don’t work in this song but thought the lyrics and vocal melody were engaging. Moments until twilight is a mixed album but for someone who only recently started writing original material it’s impressive.

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