Written and recorded between rural Sweden and his adopted city of Copenhagen, Texan in Denmark, Jason Dungan’s latest outing as Blue Lake is titled Sun Arcs. 

The album opens with Dallas, a ditty of crystalline, clear bluegrass picking. Six acoustic strings ringing out, singing a song that seems to be about beautiful wide open spaces. A totally solo effort, with Jason playing everything, when the rhythm section joins in the mood is most definitely upbeat, happy. If the music was made alone, well it certainly fooled me, since it sounds like it was created in the crowded company of friends. Surrounded by loved ones. It’s something that, sonically, could slide in either side of, or in between, Raymond Richards’ pedal steel hymns to the American landscape and Penguin Cafe / Penguin Cafe Orchestra’s cool cuatro moments. All overlapping circular riffs. Countrified Steve Reich-ian counterpoint. 

The clarinet-led Fur is another PC / PCO-esque piece. Bloom, that with its beautifully bottlenecked frets, recalls Califone’s “Alt.” arty, dusted, dustbowl, Americana grooves, while La Monte Young / Dream Syndicate drones, the buzz and bleed of conversing instruments, undercut everything. 

Elsewhere there are stretches, showcases, of Jason’s home-made 48-string zither. Harp-like, hammered, harmonic, dulcimer-like, glittering, gleaming glissandos that paint pictures of fresh water reflecting sunshine in golden, dappled strobes. These are magical, warm, musical mediations, but personally I think that the record works best when it’s dancing, playful, and summoning the spirit of Simon Jeffes. 

Blue Lake’s Sun Arcs is out now on Tonal Union.