Victor Mucho’s melodic travel journal

For Victor Mucho, music is life. On his debut album Moonlight in Visby, his life is in the music. To his friends, he is Brian Macdonald; he uses the pseudonym to remove himself from his role in the band Judah & The Lion. For Judah & the Lion, he plays the mandolin and sings backup vocals, but for Victor Mucho, he takes on an all-encompassing role as the lead singer and sole songwriter. The Tennessee native left his home in Nashville and traveled abroad for the creation of this album. He, his wife and his dog spent their days in Sweden, in the small, coastal town of Visby. It is here that he was able to explore his talents and say whatever he wanted to.

The album opens with “Islands (Two Dead Swans),” and presents a good representation of what is to come. The track features competing vocals, all being his own, and purely acoustic instrumentals, much like the rest of the album. “Apart from You” is the staple love ballad of the album, going back and forth from soft to heart-wrenching, groan-y vocals. “Liberate” features several layers and backtracks that prove that his work took lots of necessary time mixing and producing. “So Terribly Hurt” featuring Molly Parden is a dream-pop-esque track where the talks of waves crashing on rocks create an ethereal feel.

In all songs on the album, it is clear that Macdonald has a knack for songwriting. What he lacks, though, is the vocals to match. Macdonald is able to make up for the weakness in his vocals with the strength of his voice. The songs are so personal that it almost doesn’t matter that he doesn’t have this pretty voice to match his pretty lyrics.

The highlights of this album include the tracks “Many Moons” and “Cigarette Talks.” “Many Moons” is the second track on the album and showcases all of Macdonald’s skills. Besides being an overall sweet song with flowery lyrics, there is expert guitar and mandolin work that make the song a blast to listen to. “Cigarette Talks” is the longest track on the album, coming in at 6:37. The song is an outpouring of his love for Visby, Sweden, until he realizes that he will soon have to leave and that he will have to go back to reality. On the track, listeners hear his wife’s voice in the background for the entirety of the song, making it feel as though it is an internal monologue all inside Macdonald’s head. It is one of the best on the album much less for how it sounds than for what it is. The album ends with “Made a Fire” where Macdonald is verbalizing a reckoning with his future. It acts as an overview of his trip; he tells himself that life goes on. What Macdonald has created, here, is a musical diary.

In all, Victor Mucho has created quite the impressive debut album. Moonlight in Visby is a piece of work that many artists make it a goal to work their way up to. With his mastery of lyricism and the mandolin, Macdonald made a good album, great. After spending years with Judah & The Lion, Brian Macdonald has finally been able to make his individual presence known. This presence is one that should be associated with fine-tuned instrumental skills and poetic expertise.