Experimental guitar slinger Bill Orcutt’s Music for Four Guitars is probably his most successful album to date, with its considerable popularity resulting in worldwide tours, with Wendy Eisenberg, Ava Mendoza and Shane Parish making up the band, plus a live album. Music in Continuous Motion is Bill’s second studio album for four guitars and a natural predecessor to Four Guitars, with each song a tangled yet clear composition of Telecaster notes that builds into a tapestry.
But there is a different feel to this album that is only really apparent once the third guitar on opener Giving Unknown Origin kicks in. With a slower part hanging over two quicker runs, the third guitar slows the pace of the song until two rhythm parts lock in to finish. This shift in focus is more evident on Unexpectedly Heavy, an appropriately titled piece that features three guitars in a groove, with the fourth guitar laying down thick notes over it. This chug, coupled with the almost yearning lone part, adds a new dimension to the four guitars’ sound and provides more texture than the mechanically precise metallic notes of Four Guitars.
That’s not to say the music doesn’t have teeth; this is a Bill Orcutt album, which means the playing gets lively. Take Because Sharp also Smooth; this fast-paced miniature sees light distortion blur quickly played notes that jostle beneath isolated lower ones. But the ‘also Smooth’ is there in the music’s burr; the edges are ever so slightly filed off, bringing leniency to the sound.
Elsewhere, Now Nearly Gone has a pensive character most recently found in Bill’s acoustic Jump On It album; here, three guitars play out a slow melody that a fourth solos over in signature Orcutt fashion. Music in Continuous Motion was originally written for a New York show, so it is designed for performance; this is one song that really demonstrates it.
Saying that, I can imagine every song on here being played live, and it feels like a satisfying album to transfer to the stage. Yet Always Moving is the funnest song on here, with cartoony low strings running down the frets while the trebles scatter and outwit. Doubtless, this would and will be a blast to thrash out on stage, as would songs like the muscular, loosely structured Barely There, a more emotional piece of strong lines that would be a worthy final song to play out.
Music in Continuous Motion is a worthy successor to Music for Four Guitars, and, if anything, a more enjoyable album, with soulful compositions working alongside the gnarlier playing. A fully realised and finely honed set by a master of experimental guitar, this is unmissable. Bring on the live shows.
Music in Continuous Motion (March 13th, 2026) Palilalia
Pre-Order via Bandcamp: https://billorcutt.bandcamp.com/album/music-in-continuous-motion