Photo by Michael Basu
For years, Mike Fiore has been quietly making a name for himself in the Boston music scene, but the low profile has suited him just fine, allowing for a subtle evolution. Under the name Faces On Film, he’s self-recorded and self-released two albums, slowly shifting from noisy, Modest Mouse-like folk to a wider palette incorporating soul, pop, and rock in equal measure. The homespun songs recall early My Morning Jacket in their tenderness and expansiveness.
After opening for the likes of Blitzen Trapper and Guided By Voices, Fiore is ready for the spotlight. On March 25, he’ll release his third album as Faces On Film, titled Elite Lines. Neil Young seems to be the touchstone for much of the record, both in the bare-bones instrumentation and the moody, inward-looking lyrics. “The Rule” hits all these sweet spots at once, before opening up into a rhythmic middle section that’s a far funkier turn for this normally sedate band. It just proves that for Fiore, musical evolution is an ongoing process–you just have to take it one album at a time.
