Moan Barrow – “Voices” is for fans of meticulously produced music

At its heart, “Voices” is undeniably a classic rock track. The thundering drums, jangling guitars and driving bass make that fact certain. However, there is a noticeable progressive atmosphere that pervades the recording, giving it an epic flavor, while the vocals maintain a close-up and personal aesthetic. The song was initially being created for a film, when Moan Barrow Production LLC, a documentary and film scoring agency owned by Brian Jones decided it would make a great single, and released it on Spotify, along with a fabulous accompanying video published on YouTube.

A musician since the age of 8, Brian Jones of Springfield Illinois, is the sole member of the band known as Moan Barrow. He plays all of the music and does all the vocals. Moan Barrow is intensely focused on production values, dynamic mixing and mastering, and all other sorts of elements that sound best in high-quality systems. In short, Jones is an artist that would appeal to audiophiles and fans of meticulously produced music. This shows up strongly in each of his projects, and plays a distinct role in “Voices”.

Without being afraid of showing influences from 80’s and 90’s rock, Moan Barrow mixes the past with the present in an outstandingly sophisticated way on “Voices”. It is an excellent example of a modern progressive rock music that tributes the past with newer, fresher sounds and great, lush production.

There are a lot of parts of this track that bring to mind very specific pieces of classic prog rock. But Moan Barrow has managed to come up with a wonderful twist on that sound on this record.

What’s great about “Voices” is that it remains highly interesting throughout its duration. With a storybook structure to it. The song emphasizes melody but offers plenty of dynamics to keep it going.

The lyric sheet is also essential to the song’s balance between light and dark elements. “Your mind is weak, and you’ve broken down. Knees start to buckle and you’re going down. You’re down on the floor you can’t take much more. Pick yourself up and kick down the door,” sings Brian.

Over and above the moody verses, the melodic choruses and the passionate guitar solo are highly enjoyable to me. “Voices” may only be three minutes in duration, but it has a powerful drive to it and offers great vocal hooks and instrumental workouts.

It’s unbelievable how someone today can still have the talent and the will, to produce authentic sounding rock music this close to classic perfection. Somehow Moan Barrow has done so with flourish, and admirable style. There are some wonderful Yes-like harmonies for a moment and then the extended musical breaks dominate.

Moan Barrow knows how to build on musical ideas and Brian Jones surpasses himself with tracks such as this. The mesmerizing and haunting beauty is superbly encapsulated in “Voices”. Despite the dark and mystifying lyrical theme, the music is uplifting and energetic, infused with passion throughout.

Though I’ve mentioned it before, the lead guitar break is incredible, soaring emotionally and adding so much depth to the overall atmosphere of the song. In a nutshell, “Voices” is both a glorious throwback, and a brilliantly fresh surprise. Moan Barrow throws in so many ideas that it is impossible not to enjoy.

OFFICIAL LINKS: WEBSITE – SPOTIFY – YOUTUBE – Facebook: Moan Barrow Productions – Instagram: @Moanbarrowproductions