A friend and I once had a debate that ended in the agreement that solo singer songwriters have to have either one of two things to keep us interested: Good lyrics or balls. These raw emotional qualities we find most clearly in pop history from Bob Dylan. The balls department is effectively covered by Johnny Cash.
Bruce Nathan aka everyBOY‘s sophomore album ‘Parachute Mind‘ combines some very classic Southern Californian folk with some neat electronic and analog instrumentation to fill out his uplifting stories on darkness into light.
Like the debate, he has managed strong open hearted lyrics with a little more balls than your average solo man; “I’ve been crawling through a cloudy haze“, He croaks into a wall of strings and minor note guitar picking.
Musically it felt like a cross between latter day Lindsey Buckingham (with a whiskey hangover) being backed by The Weepies. Tunes like ‘Life Is 4 Living‘ are sweet and enchanting yet have an undertone of sadness and of a sensitive and thoughtful soul that’s very much lost in a modern world.
The title track reminded me of the energy and imagination of “Down To Earth” by Peter Gabriel, a soulful yet playful effort that put forward the pop elements of folk.
A studier of Japanese arts and philosophy, everyBOY‘s words are what bring forth his strength. He brings messages of hope and love like George Harrison with the melancholy of Neil Young.
Singer songwriters will always be around, but they tend to be few and far between when it comes down to it. EveryBOY has not only future proofed his songs with very cool electronics and instrumentation but has made them sound timeless too.
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Post by Thom.
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