As Many As Possible - The Stars

A Closer Listen

The release of The Stars gives us the opportunity to listen to the four-EP discography of John Anthony McDowell, who records as As Many As Possible and now has enough tracks to equal an album.  The artist has been making great strides in a short period of time, making shifts from solo artist to chamber folk ensemble and from home recordings to studio while preserving an approachable tone.

The first two EPs were released in micro-batches of 20 cassettes with posters, the epitome of DIY.  Everything is Listening to Everything Else might be considered a solo project with friends, beginning with Damian Moloney’s piano on the title track.  Already there is a feeling of warmth, with subtle electronics and strings, easing the listener into the recording like winter into spring, blooming in the second minute with a mini-crescendo.  “Ellis and Tony,” dedicated to the artist’s grandparents, concentrates on guitar and was inspired by an amusingly romantic family tape recording that is heard mid-piece.  Bells dance around the guitar like snowdrops, producing a feeling of positivity.  The track will re-appear on Peach, fleshed out by the ensemble, with a slightly more melancholic tone and more prominent xylophone.  The same holds true for “The Moon the Stars,” a measured piece with breath and background noise in its original incarnation, As Many As Possible’s only vocal track, extended and moved to the closing spot on Peach, enhanced by strings for a more well-rounded sound.  While the newer version is technically better, the original has a more home-spun appeal, like that of a handwritten letter.  “See the Light” completes the first EP, a one-minute surge of emotion that ends all too soon; thankfully, more would soon follow.

Only ten months later, As Many As Possible has added some players: Ciara O’Neill (Piano), Angie Yu (Electric Guitar), Naoise Dack (Violin, Viola) and Mary Barnecutt (Cello).  Sun Flower Grow is a mini-suite, suitable for spring, launching with McDowell’s tender guitar but preserving space and time for the other instruments as well.  The unquestionable highlight is “Grow,” which at nearly seven minutes tops the length of the other three originals.  This time O’Neill’s piano begins like a tender shoot, while the guitar and strings act as slowly unfurling leaves.  One can hear the ensemble coming into its own; the patience of the piece is like a fertile field.  The EP also contains a surprise bonus, an ambient Orkun A. remix of “Sun,” which suggests a different direction for the ensemble should they choose to head down another path.

Peach bloomed only five months later, the new material the two-part title track, briefly breaking into a waltz at the end of the first part and slowly surging at the end of the second.  We wish each piece were longer, but it doesn’t take that long to eat a peach.  The EP’s primary strength is the opportunity to reinvent solo efforts as an ensemble, and one can hear the performers growing more confident by the month.  Fast-forward another five months to the current release, and two more performers have joined the group: Niall Thornton (Drums) and Sara Elizabeth Buckley (Flute).  We would say that the ensemble is now complete, but there’s a possibility it could keep growing, as we’ve seen with Philadelphia’s Hour; the only question is how many can fit on a single stage.

Like Sun Flower Grow, The Stars is a four-movement suite.  The expansion of instrumentalists correlates to an expansion of theme; what began in a home and extended to a garden now looks up at the heavens and sparks the imagination.  The quiet “i” leads to a wide angle “ii” in which the drums are heard for the first time; McDowell’s guitar begins to imitate a banjo, re-capturing that original home-spun warmth.  The tiny xylophone notes of “iii” are like pinpricks of light in a darkened sky.  The cover art is a visual impossibility, the stars exposed against a cirrus blanket, but the tone is right; this is music for wondering.  The astronaut transmissions of “iv” bring the point home; sometimes awe appears when we look at the stars, but it also appears when astronauts look back at the earth.

While growing from a solo act to a septet, As Many As Possible has retained its inherent intimacy. The music touches on grand themes, but remains humble.  There are many directions in which the ensemble might head as they consider composing a longer work.  Our suggestion: a full-length set that balances extended experiments like “Grow” with distinctive entries like “Ellis and Tony,” with an overarching theme, as found on Sun Flower Grow and The Stars.  We wouldn’t mind hearing some more alternate mixes as well.  Either way, reference to The Stars intentional, the sky’s the limit for this Dublin ensemble.  (Richard Allen)