Were they not so deliciously smooth, the highs on Lonesome Cat’s LP, Acoustic Mourning, would be euphoric. They come at you rapidly and often throughout this project, itself a working wonder of perfection of music, vocals, and emotional lyrical wizardry.

Sometimes, those highs take the form of Cat’s vocals. Money’s got the silkiest, most diaphanous falsetto this side of Mawell, Robin Thicke, or damn near anyone else. “Ride Your Wave”, just one of the many of the finer moments on the album, is absolutely dripping with it. Plus, he’s able to throw in whisper soft sweet sounds of singing sans anything saccharine, that’s incredibly expressive, heartfelt, and gripping to listen to—not just on this number, but on the majority of the project.

Oftentimes, however, the highs on this opus are directly attributed to the acoustic guitars that are a sheer celebration of that very instrument to simply hear and be captivated by. ‘Cat sets the bar high with the opening cut, “Against the Shadows”, which kick things off with the type of deft, dexteritous playing of that stringed instrument that immediately takes over whatever space, even if it’s just a pair of headphones, in which they find themselves.

The acoustic guitars on “Through The Night” are almost indescribable in their rippling, spiraling spells of sonic energy. As good as they sound, the rhythm (in 16ths) and bass make the tune as smooth as Sade’s were in her heyday, threatening to best their musical counterparts. Small wonder, then, that ‘Cat rides this groove for close to 10 minutes, with an impeccable performance on the foresaid instruments, the vocals, and even the lyrics.

As a matter of fact, did someone say something about lyrics? It’s the artist’s proficiency in this department that truly transcend this album beyond something that simply sounds good to that which is darn near definitional to art itself. With just a tad of the morbid hanging over many of them, it doesn’t stop the vocalist from dropping lines like “I look out the window and wonder how long it will be until I ruin you” (on “Shadows”), “stars greet your eyes where spirits reside” (on “Through The Night”), and “cosmic hands sifting grains of sand” on the same track.

None of these panegyrics, however, come close to the summation of the totality of what ‘Cat has truly unfolded on this project. The only way to do it justice, it would seem, is by playing it yourself and getting a good, stiff dose.