Moncure by Matt Southern & Lost Gold

For three days in March of 2020 (just before the shutdown), Lost Gold rented a small house in the woods outside of Pittsboro. In cramped quarters they set up a makeshift studio and recorded the songs they had tirelessly rehearsed and played live over the previous year. The dusky atmosphere of the living space is apparent in every creak and echo heard. It is a perfect pairing for a record full of songs equal parts hope and weariness.

Originally formed to flesh out Southern’s exploratory folk compositions, Lost Gold was there at every step of writing and arranging this new record. The result is a tighter, more nuanced effort, that plays to the growing strengths of this ensemble.

These are songs of hope and resiliency in the face of looming darkness. Moncure is a capsule of a time and place that already feels nostalgic. A room full of people breathing and sweating together, trying their best to make a beautiful noise.

Keep the rattle-trap humming...