amos lee - s/t
singer songwriters ? pah. cant be doing with them. david gray, damien rice ?
just aint my kinda thing. and at this moment in time, the pace of
singer-songwriters arrival on the scene is reaching frightening proportions.
therefore when i found myself spinning this new album by new singer-songwriter
for the 4th time i knew something wasn't right.
personally i blame the nasty weather. too dark for happy vibes hip hop, and too
bloody cold for just about anything else. 'cept this debut has somewhow become a
lovely little companion recently with its easy laid back blues-y vibes and
non-modern sounding production.
the album (released on singer-songwriter stable - blue note !) is short, 11
tracks stretching a concise 35 minutes, featuring 11 acoustically driven songs,
with piano, brushed drums, cello, bass and lashings of fantastic wurlitzer/hammond
organ riffs (check the old school jimmy smith styles on the excellent 'give it
up'). the album has been recorded simply making the songs themselves the key
factor here. luckily amos has a lovely voice that sits well in the quiet
setting, human, delicate and melodic, and not in any way anodyne or
manufactured.
oh, and when you dig in to the release notes you realise just how the man has
got where he is. norah jones is all over the place, as well as her partner in
crime - lee alexander. ah ha. all becomes clear. her involvement obviously has
helped amos's profile. which despite my usual cynicsm is no bad thing actually.
so, while the album aint going to be sitting in my top 10 its certainly not
going to be relegated to the archive in the attic just yet, and quite possibly,
when i am feeling all mellow and smooth and i cant face another looped
beat/sample i may indeed be reaching out for this rather fine album. that is
until his songs saturate the advertising world and amos gets his parkinson
special propelling him into the hearts and minds of everyone else.