Daniel Martin Moore
In the Cool of the Day
Sub Pop / Tuba!

In The Cool Of the Day is the third album from Kentucky-based folk singer/songwriter Daniel Martin Moore. It is his second as a solo artist, after last years Dear Companion that he co-wrote and performed with Ben Sollee as part of a project to draw attention to the problem of Mountaintop Removal (MTR) coal mining.

The earlier works of Daniel Martin Moore's are quiet, very nice, and as far as I've listened, pretty secular folk-pop. On In The Cool Of The Day he still does mostly piano based folk, but here he has gone back to his roots, and done a fresh take on his childhood's gospel favourites. These old songs he then has shaped, and reinvented, in the image of his own memories and his grown-up understanding of spirituality. He also have added a few of his own. The result is a soulful and mesmerising spiritual folk album.

Some of the lyrics on In The Cool Of The Day, may be a bit to preachy for my not so very religious ears, but in the end, that doesn't matter. All I can hear is the tender charm in the opener "All Ye Tenderhearted", the stunning loveliness of the ballad "Oh, My Soul", the faithful and dreamy low-toned piano in the title track, or the fragile string play in the closure "Set Things Aright". For me, these tunes talks of a personal journey, the times long gone, and the beauty the faith in love at its best could hold, regardless of any other spirituality.

Daniel Martin Moore has with In The Cool Of The Day simply made a painfully beautiful album.

Copyright © 2011 Aslaug O Klausen