If there one clear point to be picked up on Mesita’s first post-Here’s To Nowhere track then it’s that no matter what might be bringing James Cooley down or whatever obstacles might be in his way, he’ll always find his feet again and keep playing his music, either for that cathartic effect or just to find that right sound. “The Front Range” definitely sounds like a transitional track, one that’s in between worlds. Announcing itself suddenly on a high chord it rallies itself from there, building up a light and breezy setting for his steps forward.
The sound seems to have all the traits of what one might come to expect from a Mesita track: nifty drum patterns, skittering guitars and shakers shaking about the place. Yet there feels to be a little something missing, like a streak of pure life through the track that helps indent it into your mind or an onslaught of notes that are earworms before they are melodies. Perhaps it’s the fact that the track feels more like an instrumental than anything else. The few lyrics that crop in the latter half point towards getting one’s self out of a dark haze and as the drums shuffle back into the picture, using a summery backdrop seems the most apt way for Cooley to find his next focus. While not a huge leap forward (he done that earlier with the release of Here’s To Nowhere), the track still feels like another step and at the very least it feels like it’s one in the right direction.
