Ball of Wax 56 Songs: Chris Moore – “Threads”

Our old friend Chris Moore (last heard on Volume 49, first heard on Volume 2) returns with the gorgeous “Threads,” from his new EP Sunday Painter. The song starts with a quiet, spare guitar part and Chris’s voice, quiet and clear. You can hear the room in the recording, and within a few bars you’ve probably got it pegged as stripped-down bedroom folk (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Yet somehow, less than a minute in, you’re suddenly surrounded by a full band, swirling guitars – is that an orchestra? In less deft hands this dynamic excess might all come across as a bit much, but here it’s exactly right. The song continues, alternating quiet verses and explosive instrumental choruses, and then somehow it gets even bigger on the bridge, cascading wind instruments, more guitars, Chris really opening up on the drums and with his voice. Then the dust settles and we’re back where we started, that quiet guitar and the line we began with: “Some of us get down and dirty, for they don’t come easy, the rare melodies.” If getting down and dirty is what it took to deliver this song, I sincerely hope Chris keeps digging for us.