Long time fixture of the Cincinnati music scene releases first solo album
Featuring songs spanning 30 years, “Inconceivable” is a labor of love, and maybe a little madness.
Kent Meloy has been involved in the Cincinnati original music community since co-forming the eclectic occasional juggernaut “Collins Gate” in the mid 90’s after spending many years honing his writing chops in the studio. Through the years he co-founded the “Harvest Moon Benefit Concerts” which enjoyed a seven-year run bringing together local acts for charity every fall. “Collins Gate begat two incarnations of “Staring at the Sea”, which begat local fave power-punk-pop band “kelp”. After taking a few years away, he co-founded “Oh So Luminous” which is the current ‘main gig’.
Through all of the bands, styles, and years there were always songs that didn’t quite fit whatever the project was. After “Oh So Luminous” released their debut album “You Have Always Been” to critical acclaim in June of 2019, he decided it was time to do something about this scruffy back-catalog. For four months he collated, revised, and re-visioned, trying to coax the best of the lot out. In the end, this fourteen-song collection features title track “Inconceivable” penned in 1989, up thru “Don’t Save the Cat” written about a month before the album released, with many years and moods in between.
“To say this was a struggle is an accurate overstatement,” Meloy said. “The nostalgia digging up some of these old relics sparked ideas for new ones. It was honestly exhilarating. Something new transpired almost daily.”
With influences ranging from bands like Rush, Foo Fighters, Cheap Trick and Ramones, to electronic pioneers such as Jean Michel Jarre and Vangelis, there came a point where deciding what direction to go with “Inconceivable” became a bit of a problem.
“I felt like I needed to pick one direction, define it and stick with it for cohesiveness” He said. “It was the one real struggle, because the obvious guitar-heavy thing I do with “Oh So Luminous” is so ever-present from a writing standpoint, but I didn’t want it to feel like “B-sides and castaways” from that album. And then I saw Beck for the first time at Riverbend, and all rules went right out the window. It was an epiphany. It opened my eyes to the possibility of using my whole pallet. All the colors. It was incredibly freeing, and kind of gave me permission to create exactly the odd vibe I was hoping for.”
Meloy performed all duties on the album, something he says “…is very perplexing. I get into the groove, and adore the whole process from scribbling down song ideas through final mastering. I love doing it, yet it feels incredibly narcissistic. Still – it’s one area in my life I can completely control, and sometimes, you know, you just need that.” He added, “This one is waaay past due.”
“Inconceivable” is available now on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, Spotify, and many other online retailers and streaming services.