“The Out Cats” is the fifth release from Marc Soucy’s ‘ANTARTICA: The Live Archives’ series. Despite being a track that was written years before the actual recording process of the series, “The Out Cats” sounds as though it is anything but old news. “The Out Cats” is lively, driven, and even…current? There is something about this track that makes you feel like it is both the closing of a book, while at the same time a final, swaggering step before an artist walks right out of the studio with their head held high. Heavier on character and personality than most other cuts from the series, “The Out Cats” is pushed along with showy instrumental decisions and an implied urgency that keeps it present, yet never works too hard to do so. It’s a tune that will stick with you.
“The Out Cats” is a track with freedom and control. The work has energy, but doesn’t sound like a haphazard mess. Nothing about the speed or the fullness of the sound feels improvised or unintentional. You can hear a younger Soucy, sure, but you also have the presence of an old veteran of the composing world who’s been at the peak of his craft long before those who will never likely see his level of success are just discovering what ambient and new age music is in 2023. The song feels like it’s everywhere – right there and right there too. The mix is punchy and articulate. The phrasing is worked and raw. It’s neither overproduced nor underproduced. There are no effects used to pull focus. Instead, everything is there for a reason and that reason is to support the piece with little-to-no fuss. It’s the rare balance of sounding both unfinished and finished; it has a sound that begs for the live performance treatment.
Marc Soucy’s ‘ANTARTICA series” is near its end, but if “The Out Cats” is a teaser of what is to come from Marc in the future as a composer, it’s also a look at where he is going. The STIR series is coming to a close with one last studio work set for release. Marc Soucy isn’t just going to be unearthing the past, he’s going to be remaking it in new ways we’re going to be seeing.
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