Marc Enfroy - Crossroads (2016)

When he's found himself in intersections of personal and professional turmoil, cinematic neo classical composer Marc Enfroy has turned to his music. A decade ago, it was his guiding light through the darkness of losing his sister. Now, faced with feeling creatively stifled and some personal unrest, the Michigan-based artist channels his dissonance into his music, and discovers a whole new artistic and expressive palette. Aptly, he calls his latest full-length release Crossroads.
A scan of the song titles on Crossroads reveals a dramatic emotional arc. With haunting beauty the album grapples with relationship ruptures, consequence, and the fear of new beginnings. A rousing minor key melodic piano motif opens Your Silence is a Razor setting the scene for Aili Laine's stirring and sensual vocals. Here she sings about the painful complexity of being iced out of an intimate connection without any channels of communication between the warring parties. The title track is a foreboding instrumental with elegantly elegiac strings. It conjures a dizzying scene of sudden and profound change where the death of the past becomes something to mourn, and the uncertainty of the future is anxiety inducing. Crossroads also offers the comfort and centered grandeur of Enfroy's signature aesthetic. Sepia lushly emotes nostalgia. In That Moment unfolds slowly and purposely from winsome piano melodies to soaring richly textured crescendos. The effect is transcendent. His stunning rendition of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, Moonlight Obsession offers a chance to pause for reflection. Another highlight is Enfroy revisiting his most popular track on Pandora with Unbounded Reprise. This 2016 version features crisper production, lavish organic strings, and stretches out with a triumphant additional chorus.
Crossroads represents an artistic breakthrough for Enfroy. Contemplating the album, and the lessons it s gifted him, Enfroy says: 'The biggest thing for me has been realizing I can show all the different sides of my personality. I've learned it s okay to be fearlessly vulnerable with my music.'