Paul Federici released a beautiful record a few years ago called Now and Then and he's finally back with a new song called Fighting a Setting Sun. It's a beautiful song that feels like coming home after a long weekend in the rain.
You are soaked to the bone, put down your suitcase and take a deep breath. You take off your wet clothes, take a steaming hot shower and pour yourself a burning hot cup of coffee. You sit down on your favorite chair, take a look around, ignore all the things you need to do and just sit there for a few minutes. Feeling perfectly warm, welcome and at home. That's what this song feels like (to me). Two hundred seconds of perfection.
Bruce Springsteen-fans gather around; this is Greg Drummond. He is Bruce's unofficial child and will do the one thing that needs to be done to convince you and everyone else of his talent: he will write great music and release beautiful records.
Four years ago Greg released a great album called Walking Man, and in June of this year he finally graced us with a follow-up record. Drive is the record of a musician who has grown 4 years. His voice, the songs, the lyrics; everything is on a higher level. And this is coming from me, having absolutely loved (and still do) Walking Man.
But let's just forget about Springsteen. Let's forget about Walking Man. Forget about everything you know and have ever heard. Just listen to Drive and enjoy the hell out of it. Above all, this is a great record.
This is such a beautiful record. Is it Americana, country, folk music or a little bit of all. I don't know, I don't care, either. Fuck the labels, this is just a great album. You can feel the emotions, hear the pain and the songs scratch a little deeper into your soul everytime this record plays. It's raining outside. It's raining inside, too.
The Cartographer is a great folk record by Luke Redfield. Soft and easy, with perfectly written lyrics. He describes people I'd love to meet, sings handcrafted songs about them and himself. It's easy to hear where his inspiration comes from, Luke Redfield is part of the alt-country music tradition that only finds itself in the outskirts of America. There's a quote on his website that describes this tradition and Luke's music perfectly: Luke Redfield has been criss-crossing America for most of his life, taking up home in Texas, Colorado, Alaska, and as an intrepid drifter on the West Coast, where he washed dishes and sang for his supper.
This record was made for travelling, for staring out the window as the rain is pouring down. For not doing a damn thing at all, except for listening to this fine record.
Their debut album Home is almost here and this song is soo addictive. Just like everything this fine band has released so far, this song is beautiful and works best when listened to over and over again. The best video of 2014 was Dancing and if there was a shortlist for 2015 Skies would surely be on it.