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When the box doesn’t fit, you have to figure a way to get out of it, for Chris Simpson that involved stepping back from previous emo-bands Mineral and The Gloria Record, in order to release Music for Looking Animals under the moniker, Mountain Time. Looking back to find a way forward, Simpson turned to the music of Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Leonard Cohen, Harry Nilsson and The Velvet Underground. Also entranced by the freedom and expression of jazz masters, he began to formulate his way forward. Simpson began to shed the skins that no longer fit, crafting more mature and cathartic music. Entering the studio with producer/collaborator Doug Walseth, they shaped tunes based on the simplicity of natural instruments recorded the old-fashioned way, using an 8-track recorder and one-inch tape. Yet as the process went on, it became apparent that while the goal was one of simplification, the approach would be better served by more modern techniques. Pathways finally set, the music that emerged combines classic, largely acoustic instrumentation. Rosemary, Etc. in many ways defines the sound of the album, initial bursts of strummed guitar and bass lead-in before brass punctuate a tale of trying to get out of the way of everything that keeps you from what you actually need, “Rosemary get out of my garden please/I gave you everything you wanted/It wasn’t what you dreamed/We’re on my way now, so I guess you’re on your own.” In an album where fragility is one of the touchstones, Empty Graves may be one of the most fragile songs imaginable. A single guitar lays out the theme on the first verse before a pair of strings counterpoint the sorrow held by mothers of young soldiers never to return home. You don’t just hear the pain, it’s palpable, “All the time in the whole universe/Couldn’t fill these empty graves/Or these tables up with laughter/Or these sleepy heads with dreams/Or this tin man’s heart with confidence/Or these ghettos with relief.” Amidst the grief of the modern world, there are also notes of hope that come through. According to Simpson, “I am completely convinced of the paradoxes that exist, that love and compassion are the only answers to hate and fear. There is so much healing needed both within and without, and that starts at home, in our own hearts and lives.” To that end, Modern Living surges on waves of emotion that build from simple piano chords. In order to effect change, we must first be the change. Bravery is born from small acts, ones that start with simple steps. Take enough of those, and the hard ones become much easier. Mountain Time establishes some of those pathways on Music for Looking Animals.