Mt. Kili – “The Noticer”
An intimate folk record with beautiful guitar and violin melodies, and a melancholy that feels like a familiar place.
Album Review | Partner Feature
“The Noticer” draws you in without making much noise. The opening track, “Don't Start a War”, starts with gently picked guitar. There's a lightness to it, although the mood becomes a little more grounded when the vocals enter. Rick Sichta's voice has a rather delicate quality, and the drums are careful not to overpower it. They support the guitar and vocals instead of pushing the song forward. I was caught by the sound almost immediately.
The title track follows with another delicate guitar part, this time accompanied by a beautiful violin melody. That's where the album really got me. The violin and guitar sound wonderful together, and when the vocals enter, a quiet kick drum can be heard far back in the mix. Everything feels very natural. There's a certain intimacy to the arrangement that makes me think of sitting around a campfire, listening to someone play while the evening slowly passes. You could stay there for hours. There's always a touch of melancholy in the music, but it's a melancholy I find rather comforting.
The violin is one of the things I kept coming back to while listening. On “The Rain Song”, the guitar remains at the center, while the vocals move a little further forward. The drums are more open, and the violin plays these lovely lower notes that seem to hang in the air. On “The Road Isn't as Long as It Seems”, it takes the lead right from the beginning. There's a beautiful melody running alongside the guitar and the little bit of whistling in the pre-chorus adds an unexpected touch. I really like that detail. It gives the song something of its own without changing the mood. There is a reason why the combination of guitar and violin feels so familiar. They have a long history as a musical duo and hearing them together here makes perfect sense. Neither instrument has to fight for attention. They simply play alongside each other, sometimes following the same melody, sometimes going their own way. I found myself getting completely lost in that interplay.
“Her Song” brings a lighter mood to the album. It's gentle and almost fragile, but there's confidence in the vocals, too. The song practically floats along, with a little rhythmic change towards the end that I particularly enjoyed. “Kyle” returns to the picked guitar and intimate vocals. The vocal harmonies are beautiful and give the song an extra sense of closeness. By this point, that campfire feeling has become quite familiar and I wouldn't mind staying there for the rest of the evening. “The Weather Report” has a sound that reminds me of light rain. The guitar and the quiet cymbal sounds in the background seem to flow into one another. It's a very gentle moment on the record. “Scars” is a little different. The guitar is picked more freely and sounds almost wild in comparison with the earlier tracks. The song itself stays fairly calm, while the drums create a subtle atmosphere underneath. Towards the end, they become much more intense and wind sounds enter the picture. I like that change. It gives the song a slightly unexpected finish. “Strawberry Fields” was one of the tracks that caught me straight away. It's calm, but there's enough of a rhythm to make you want to move along. Once again, that beautiful melancholy is there. I find it quite remarkable how comfortable this song makes me feel, despite its wistful mood. The violin underlines that feeling perfectly. It's probably the track I'd return to first. “All in Good Time” closes the album and brings back everything I enjoyed about the record: expressive guitar playing, intimate vocals, lovely melodies and that familiar interplay between the musicians. It feels like a natural ending. By the time the song is over, I have no desire to rush off to something else.
Mt. Kili began as a home-recording project by Rick Sichta in Asheville, North Carolina. His first album, “Ten Songs for My Girls, for Now and Later”, was written for his twin daughters. For “The Noticer”, he teamed up with Matt Shepard on drums and percussion and Laney Barnett on violin and vocals. Sichta sings and plays classical guitar, Shepard takes care of the percussion, and Barnett brings the violin and additional vocals. I think the combination works particularly well. The violin is a big part of what makes this album special for me and Barnett gets some wonderful melodies of her own. Shepard's playing is just as well judged. He knows when to stay in the background and the songs benefit from that restraint. The album was recorded at Echo Mountain Studio in Asheville. Julian Dreyer handled the engineering, while David Glasser mastered the record at Airshow Mastering. The production leaves plenty of room for the individual instruments, which suits the band's sound. There's also a personal story behind the name Mt. Kili. It goes back to Sichta's travels through China and Tibet and a trek towards Mount Everest. He had the wish to make a similar journey around Mount Kilimanjaro, which eventually inspired the name. The band describes its music as meditative folk. Having spent time with “The Noticer”, I can understand that description. These songs don't seem to be in a hurry to get anywhere.
I enjoyed listening to “The Noticer” from beginning to end. The guitar and violin are at the heart of the record, but it's the way the three musicians play together that makes it work. There's a consistency to the sound without every song feeling the same. Some tracks are lighter, others lean further into the melancholy, and “Scars” even gives us a slightly wilder moment. I have a particular fondness for music that leaves me with a feeling rather than trying to make a big statement. That's what happened here. I kept thinking about that campfire atmosphere, the quiet guitar playing and the violin melodies. And while there's plenty of melancholy running through the album, I never found it heavy. It actually left me feeling quite good.
“The Noticer” is the kind of record I'd put on when the day is over and I finally have some time to myself. No need to skip between tracks or look for a particular highlight. Just let it play. I can already see myself returning to it, especially to “The Noticer” and “Strawberry Fields”. Some albums are simply good company, and this one certainly was.
🎧 Stream “The Noticer” by Mt. Kili on Apple Music
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