Mark McGuire

By this point, Emeralds heads should know exactly what to expect from a Mark McGuire solo album: high-reaching guitar heroics delivered in a blissed-out, kosmische-indebted package. While blistering solos and ambient new ageism may seem like an awkward mix on paper, McGuire has never failed to make it a winning formula, as he once again proves with Get Lost. Serving as the proper follow-up to 2010's Living With Yourself, there's no denying that McGuire's latest is a much more concise effort, cutting away any rough patches for a more streamlined, go-down-easy sound. This results in a more summery, optimistic feel than that of Living With Yourself, with Get Lost's electric/acoustic guitarscapes being more lush and fluid, darting in and out of the occasional bubbling synth bed and, for the first time, vocals. As McGuire said earlier this year, his goal with Get Lost was to take his old loop-heavy, multilayered approach and perfect it, giving fans what he'd hoped would be a much more "zoned in" album. Consider this mission accomplished. Never has McGuire made it so easy to get lost.