The album is a testament not only to the importance and scarcity of true creative chemistry, but also to the need to make art regardless of the obstacles in the way. All of us were born to create; it's as natural as breath, as necessary as food, and comforting as sleep. We grew up drawing pictures, singing songs, staging plays - but we kept growing, and we found ourselves working in banks, managing retail shops, selling insurance. The only singing we do now is in cars piddling along in rush hour traffic.

'Mountain Sounds' is a step away from what we've become and back towards who we were. Six years removed from their last collaborative recording project, Portland, Oregon's Tim Hoyt and Guatemala's own Franc Castillejos came together to make something vital and new in the only place they could: a vacant orphanage in the mountains of Central America.

Former band mates separated for years by arbitrary ideas like nationalities, immigration laws, and time zones (not to mention several thousand very real miles), Hoyt and Castillejos found themselves discouraged and sputtering after years apart; drifting ever farther from the life they loved, ever closer to a life neither of them wanted. On the verge of acquiescence, they chose instead something altogether different: a last-ditch attempt to be who they used to be.

After a summer spent recording and trading demos separately, Tim quit his insurance job and left his home in Portland, Oregon, relocating to Franc's family's property on a secluded patch of land in the Cordillera Alux mountain range west of Guatemala City. The two set up shop in an old, out-of-use orphanage on the grounds, transforming the space into a functioning studio using what limited resources they could find.

For three months they lived and breathed nothing but their music, taking breaks only for meals, even sleeping in the makeshift studio. The long, cold rainy season ensured that they spent almost every waking moment in that space, working without interruption. Their seclusion provided extraordinary focus; their extreme limitations, an opportunity to try everything differently.

After three months, they emerged with twelve songs that showcased their distinct voice; songwriting defined by complex catchiness, minor chord melancholy, and sparse, deliberate arrangements. Franc's lyrics embody his unique perspective as a man caught in the middle, a Guatemalan who spent a decade in America, who thinks in Spanish but writes in English, who loves his home and his country but longs for his friends in a land he's not permitted to visit.

Nothing about 'Mountain Sounds' was easy or without risk. Nothing was normal: not where it was made, or how. Not how its creators reunited after years apart, putting their entire lives on hold to pursue something they hadn't done together in ages. But concepts like "easy," "safe," and "normal" don't matter very much when you're doing what you were born to do. And with 'Mountain Sounds,' Franc and Tim are finally back where they always should have been.

1. Lion or the Bee
2. Find That Man
3. When You Have Money
4. I Do What I'm Allowed
5. Breathing Fire
6. Tired Birds
7. The Barely Living Son
8. Fake It Well
9. Miles To Welcome
10. Everything Will End Up Underground
11. Faces of Friends
12. Productivity

Listen to: the entire album.

Release date: 11/15/2014
Mountain Sounds lives in Oregon USA

Tagged as: Alt Rock, Rock, Classic rock

1. Malevolence by Sophia Marie: bad ass bass with soaring femme fatale vocals
2. Post-Folkology by Conway Hambone: Multi-genre instrumental and vocal conquests made with love and fuzz
3. demonstrate (from where to Now - volume 2) by in giro: defiantly homemade pop rock music
4. Off the Rails by The Old Recruits: a new take on old funk
5. Shadow by Russ Hopkins: an introspective mix of acoustic guitar based songs
6. Hands Up by Nigel Martin: quality guitar driven instrumental music
7. From The Ground Up by Robin Grey: gently experimental nu-folk
8. First Impressions by Emma Wallace: angst-free modern ragtime
9. A Broken Beast by William Brooks: Entrancing and Ruggedly Individualistic, Earthy and Ethereal Songs
10. Restiveness by Icicle: He Who Sings Thinks No Evil
11. Forever Once Already by Broken Poets: indie rock when lyrics were king
12. The Mardom Movement by Maneli Jamal: east through to west acoustic guitar
13. The Indigo EP by Liquid Rainbow: a melting pot of classic, pop and rock sounds with modern-dub influences
14. It's Only Tuesday by Tom Paul: Roots rock meets contemporary folk
15. The First Gate by Eight Gates: charming folk pop/rock with a hint of electronica opening the gates to the land of the fairies
16. Wonderland by Cary Kanno: Uptempo, happy, banjo-driven acoustic folk pop
17. Bless this House by Castle Pines: easy-to-listen-to pop rock with a fresh attitude
18. Hypersurface by Daniel Knowler: organic, atmospheric acoustic-guitar textures
19. There Was Lightning by Trevor and the Joneses: punk, alternative and garage hard rock for some serious headbanging
20. Lip Lick by Weartists: hard energy and punky rock'n'roll

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