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Final verdict: 8/10 ★★★★☆
Artist spotlight Sunday! Artist spotlight Sunday! Dear everyone, behold Arizona-based singer-songwriter Victor Ferrer and his fresh new LP, “Morningstar.” Now I know what you may be thinking – stars are a night phenomenon, so what is this guy and his “morning star” on? Well, I had to inquire, and this was the artist’s own explanation: “[For this record] I take on the ‘Morningstar’ (fallen angel) alter ego as a metaphor for myself at my lowest point in life trying to rise up from the ashes” – and well, with that in mind, a lot of things start to make sense; by which I primarily mean the dark, damnation-adjacent content of the album.
But let’s first take a step back, shall we? This record – Ferrer’s fourth – marks a major departure from his previous Lady Gaga-esque pop, instead blending bits and pieces of said Lady Gaga with the arena rock of Ghost. Allow me to elaborate; I take it you’re familiar with Gaga’s new “Mayhem”? Well, “Morningstar” is that, except more heavy on the rock segment of the pop-rock equation. Again, reference the big, anthemic rock of Ghost and cocktail it with the grimmest of late 2000s electropop, and you got “Morningstar.” I also sense some classic rock influence in the mix, but allow me not to get too carried away here.
This album does indeed feel like the labor of someone trying to rise up from the ashes, leverage themselves out of the trenches. The songwriting is confessional and features a lot of quasi-religious imagery – it turns out that turning to God for guidance during tough times is something a lot of people experience? Man, I was feeling all unique for a while there. I’m not half the man I always thought myself to be.
The arrangements are big and lush, letting in a fair amount of chaos while still tying the loose ends together in a convicting fashion – an apt choice for the narrative “Morningstar” has on show. However, I do have one half-hearted complaint that I would like to place forth, if I may; the record does feel like it drags on for too long. Now, that is not bad per se, since this very clearly is a concept album and thus needs time, room and patience to refine and communicate said concept. I think the fact that some songs lack efficient hooks is what makes this into a problem, and it is enough reason to deduct one star from my rating here; but man, the highs are high, so I’m willing to forgive all.
Take opener “Ouija (The Board)” for example; I was at once blown away by the musicianship. You know, when an artist reaches out to me to get their album reviewed and claims they “made it all by [themselves] in [their] bedroom”… Yeah, that’s scary. Terrifying, even. I too record most of my music in my house, so call me a hypocrite if you will, but the phrase “bedroom musician” always makes me expect the worst. Not because bedroom musicians are doomed to be untalented – far from it, there’s great visionaries hidden away and waiting to have their craft affirmed – but rather because there’s only so much you can do in a bedroom with regards to live instrumentation and convincing sound design without selling your soul to Native Instruments. I do my best to set my bias aside though, and it’s for the best – the performance on “Morningstar” is tight. I love the big guitars this entire thing is slathered in and the percussion goes some interesting places too. I also enjoy the minimal-yet-crucial use of synthesizers all throughout – it’s enough for the album to be classified as “electropop” but not so much so that it falls firmly into “synthpop” territory – and the overarching darkwave atmosphere that is crafted through the arrangements and the elaborate sound design. It’s big, it’s bold, it’s in-your-face; and you better be grateful for it.
An interesting sonic trip with some solid songwriting to back it up, I’d say I quite dig “Morningstar.” Do you?
8/10.
Silia 
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