by Brian J. Barr, Freelance Writer (No Depression, Harp, Seattle Stranger):
"A few years back, Mike Dumovich played an entrancing set opening for Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter. Slouched over his guitar, grinning sheepishly from under his ballcap, his notes rang as clear and as true as anything I’d heard since laying ears on John Fahey many moons ago. Since then, I’ve been anxious for this impending full-length. Mesojunarian reflects the plaintive picking and singing he’s known for, but also brings to light his remarkably original songwriting approach. Structured around razor-sharp fingerplucks rather than chords, Dumovich’s lyrics often draw a chilly parallel between geography, weather, and human emotions, a condition we Northwesterners are well familiar with. Joined by Seattle’s genius violinists Eyvind Kang and Anne Marie Ruljancich, Dumovich is given the damp atmospherics his words require – words that are barely sung. Instead, he melodically speaks quite matter-of-factly about “10,000 storms over 10 counties” (Warm Territories), “discarded engines and one dead bee” (Wasps of Rain), and how “Saturday’s the third in a long series of planets that have been burned” (5 Dollars). While Dumovich can be a morose motherfucker, it’s never in the tiresome woe-is-me plague of most singer-songwriters. Rather, he is deeply thoughtful in the Nick Drake/Townes Van Zandt tradition. However, with producer Tucker Martine at the knobs, Dumovich shows he can also craft a catchy rock tune, such as “Sand and Swallow,” which borders on the Long Winters’ more somber moments. With Mesojunarian, we finally have a recorded document of one of Seattle’s most treasured songwriters."