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Once again I got some music
recommended to me through Twitter, keep ‘em coming…I was completely new to John
Moreland’s music few weeks ago, so after checking out few tracks online,
decided to purchase his latest album “In The Throes”. In my research for new
music (and for the reviews) I usually listen to tracks online, check out few
videos, visit the artist’s website and if they have Wikipedia page, I’ll read
that through as well. This time I wanted to get in to the music before I
learned about the artist. So I have had this album on my iPhone pretty much on
full-time rotation for the past two weeks and only looked in to John and his
career just before writing this review.
John’s ability as a songwriter is
evident in every ounce of this album. The lyrics dig deep in to self-discovery,
lost love and even questioning the value we place in songs these days in
“Nobody Gives a Damn About Songs Anymore”. The wordsmith in John Moreland comes
out in full show in songs like “Blacklist” where he sing about the relationship
between the man and his faith as the years in his life starts to question
things. In fact this subject keeps creeping up in the album, and how John
approaches it just grows my respect for him more. The way it comes across to me
is a man not trying to dismiss others faith, but questioning his own. “Break My
Heart Sweetly” is a beautiful love song, and again the imagery John uses in this
song is nothing short of amazing. Also the gentle acoustic guitar and vocal
approach almost transports you with the song.
On my “research” into John
Moreland I learned that he is a bit of a jack of all trades. He plays most of
the instruments on the album, apart from few quests. He’s had several releases
in a year in the past, which is something I can relate to quite well. Five
albums and three E.P.s in the past six years, it seems like I have few more
albums to purchase from him. Also his work method comes very much from the DIY
punk world, where he puts out his own albums and deals with small independent
labels.
The album, In The Throes, as a whole has very organic sound to it. You hear real instruments, not restricted by layers of compression and digital processing. I am a big fan of full acoustic guitar sound, and you will have plenty of it here. Also the drum sound really intrigued me; it has a great acoustic feel to it. Johns voice is somewhere between Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits, but still definitely has his own tone, one of those you will recognize in an instant. When the last notes of the albums final track “Blues & Kudzu” die down, somehow the room sounds more quiet than before… This album is a must.
The album, In The Throes, as a whole has very organic sound to it. You hear real instruments, not restricted by layers of compression and digital processing. I am a big fan of full acoustic guitar sound, and you will have plenty of it here. Also the drum sound really intrigued me; it has a great acoustic feel to it. Johns voice is somewhere between Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits, but still definitely has his own tone, one of those you will recognize in an instant. When the last notes of the albums final track “Blues & Kudzu” die down, somehow the room sounds more quiet than before… This album is a must.
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