The Sound of Living is an amazing piece of musicianship by Mike Moody. This album delivers the same sense of wonder, passion and musical prowess in the same dose as a symphony, but in far less minutes of music.

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In the first twenty seconds of the first track “Some of Them” , the listener may not be sure if they are listening to total synthesizer, jazz or folk music or a modern combination of all three as the various layers of sound enter. However, this classification won’t be on your mind long because you’re already having an internal dance party and declaring this song your absolute favorite (until you listen to the rest of the album of course). The rest of the album continues with this theme of resisting classification; musically, lyrically and in our society.

Some musical highlights from the album:

It utilizes organ in “The Gardeners” and much of the accompaniment on other tracks used a Yamaha Reface YC mini organ. As an organist, who is often told that my instrument is outdated and useless, I loved the auditory effect of the organ in this modern, subversive music that resists categorization. The organ’s ability to sustain and blend is used excellently throughout. Bravo!

You’ll be clapping along to the declarative anthems “Supermoody” and “It’s Not Crossdressing”. The confident tone of both and a smidge of sass in the later make these two of the stronger tracks in my opinion.

The bass line in “4G” is striking because this traditionally supportive instrument gets the spotlight here. This is true with much of the accompaniment in the album. Some naysayers might call it distracting, as a musician I just enjoy the moments of polyphonic (multiple melodic lines) and keep on listening.

The oxymoronically titled “No Sound.” shows a different side of this amazing artist. The listener has the pleasure of experiencing her rich voice as she croons a poignant love song supported by a unique percussion sounding like a heartbeat. Overall the musicality of this album makes it a pleasure to listen to and will leave you wanting more.

On the subsequent listenings, you will hopefully fall in love with the lyrics, mostly written by Mike Moody herself with some additions from friends for “Your Gentle Army”. The lyrics are what makes this album truly springs to life. “Invisibility”’s powerful self-declaration is only strengthened by the reverberating, sometimes dissonant bass line that feels like the musical embodiment of ableism to this reviewer. “Your Gentle Army” feels like a hug from a friend with its line “No matter how many times you call out, we won’t let you fall.” and the return of the heartbeat-esque percussion. The ending crescendo of this track is my absolute favorite moment where it seems this song should close a scene from a musical.

The final words of “I Don't Deserve This Music”— ‘Just Play’ seem to be the motto of the musician and lyricist herself-Mike Moody. Despite living in a society who may not love her unconventional musical style or her identity as a "Disfigured, disabled, trans woman musician", her music making will speak for itself as it “just play[s]”. Representation of marginalized voices is wonderful, representation of marginalized artists can reveberate around the world.

Much like life itself, the tracks of this album express many different emotions, stages, identities, relationships which is what makes this album feel truly universal and live up to its title “The Sound of Living”