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Andy McKee, he speaks so naturally with his guitar that words would only muck up one’s perception of the work. No pick, instead, he’s finger plucking, strumming, slapping, hitting, or otherwise playing with a very layered style of his invention based on other guitar legends like the percussive elements of Michael Hedges and the layered folk fingerwork of Preston Reed.

It’s a wonderful thing to hear it “in motion,” and the timing on the opener Art Of Motion is tight, but loose when it needs to be, building on multiple paces, swings and accents to set the tone. In a fast but steady pace it continues, building up to a cadence that comes as a dynamic drop. What a wonderful phrasing technique, a technique he uses for transitions, like on Practice Is Perfect, but yet on Into The Ocean it seems he’s taken the water element into the dynamics and structure of the rhythm: loose and flowing, patient, but waves come in and out, waves of rhythmic cadence, swing, dynamics, mood–it flows like water. It is a marvelous and evocative effect, and proves his mastery of structure and his instrument.

The tapping leadwork in Shanghai sounds as effortless as the single bass notes in Into The Ocean sound controlled and deliberate. The 3 rhythms at once in drifting sound as melodically structured as a full group, yet technical proficiency isn’t the point here, as evidenced by the emotions in Heather’s Song or Rylynn.

It’s not quite the feat to play well, music is a language, one that McKee speaks well, and understands better than most, I would wager. To speak the language of music one has to speak the language of the heart, which Art Of Motion speaks clearly with Rylynn, with its meandering rhythmic accents, often falling behind and ahead to create such a wistful swing and bounce, not to mention its instantly emotive melody, concluding minor for the beginning half of the theme, then turning major for the end, again with the dynamics building louder to drop into a quiet closure. To close the song and the album out the listener is treated to a lovely harmonics and tapping melody.

This is an instant classic, a remarkable work of skill and emotion, exciting the first time and rewarding to reaudition. Little details will jump out at you from a vector of energetic building, carefully descending into a delicate melancholy, just to play with structure and tug on your heart strings over again.

I urge you to listen if you at all appreciate guitar, melody, beauty, or skill. Here is the video for Andy McKee - Into The Ocean. Oh, and of course, you can buy the official album at candyrat.com