Bounty Hunters Heartbreak is a new album from Hesperia, CA-based artist, Morgan Gavin. This guy already has a lot of releases under his belt and a substantial cult following. After hearing this latest concoction, it’s easy to see why. The sound is incredibly unique, and there is quite a bit of variety to go with it. On some songs, it’s as if you were to combine Woody Guthrie-inspired vocals with futuristic synthwave or trip hop. This kind of ingenious experimentalism permeates every tune in some form or another.

The title track, Bounty Hunters Heartbreak is a “desert rap” featuring excellent backing music that falls somewhere between a vintage 5th Dimension record and the Italian soundtrack to a 1960s Clint Eastwood spaghetti western. The ambiance is consistently soulful and surreal throughout. There’s obviously an element of humor here, but the music is too good to be written off as strictly for laughs. This is avant garde, “Southwest futurism” in sonic form. There’s even a climactic jam called High Noon, which incorporates a lengthy spoken word intro to build up the suspense. Morgan Gavin is clearly a man of eclectic tastes, and these recordings are filled with neat surprises. He often transitions from folk Americana into hip hop when you least expect it. Every genre he incorporates into his songs, he presents in his own distinctive way. I’ve reviewed a lot of good music this year, but this is one of the few truly original works I’ve heard in a long time. Would be great to listen to this while sitting around a campfire with friends.

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