Since his early days in the mid 90’s dispensing wails and whimpers atop the quiet-loud emotive blasts of Texas legends Mineral, and the early 2000’s more synthesized (but no less bombastic) The Gloria Record, Chris Simpson has blazed an increasingly mysterious and self-determined trail with his Zookeeper and Mountain Time projects. Mountain Time’s latest LP, Dream Homes, finds Simpson’s storied past at once integrated and dissolved in an impossibly grand ocean of sound. The meticulous level of care and craft is compelling, and the invitation to communion feels warm and ecstatic. Resembling little more than himself at this point (though one may detect strains of something like the chaotic glory of Big Star’s Third) imbuing string-soaked 70s balladry and soaring ambient rock with an at times jazz-like freneticism, Dream Homes is a joyous romp through the kaleidoscopic vision of Simpson’s mind and pen, his unmistakable croon more confident and focused than ever, leading the listener through a vast menagerie of dream-time landscapes, dropping Easter eggs at every twist and turn for future and returning Seekers, and painting a vivid picture of a creative life in full bloom.