Music review
Sometimes you hear music where you know, without a doubt, that the musician is a master at their instrument. They play as if it’s an extension of themselves, of their bruised thoughts and wrinkled emotions. Notes are less about scales and structure, but about expressing ideas and the chemical twirls from brain to spine. The guitar playing in this album by Patrick Smith is almost conversational, the notes and spaces having a pace similar to a discussion of past loves and tragedies; of places visited and scenes felt to the stomach.
The listening experience is emotional, reactive, engaging. Even though it’s only instrumental guitar, each track has a little story to tell, between the strums and reverb. Things blend together when listening to the album in its entirety, but going back and playing each song returns you to its own intriguing story.
The song “Dancin’ Free” is an appropriate introduction, pleasant an inviting. There’s more rhythmic consistency than is found throughout most of the album, until later tracks like “Turning The Wheel” with its complex chord progressions. Over time, like most of these songs, it metamorphosizes into another emotion, growing darker and more intense before fading out.
On tracks like “Is That How It Is” and “The Call”, melodic strums and plucks are spread throughout the sections of long-held spaces between notes. It requires more attention than leaving it as background music, to catch the subtle feelings held in each musical exchange. “Prayer From A Small Room” has brief hints of middle-eastern scales, staying mostly upbeat, whereas “The Passage” is more structured until it makes a fitting ending.
Other songs like “Breaking Light” tune things down to be more dark and solemn. “Senseless Loss” feels like a conversation about a person lost or a place you wished you’d stayed. The music never gets too engrossed in the miasma and sadness; there’s sparks of notes in major scales to bring things into balance.
One standout is the track “Forgive Me”, which as far as I can tell, is the only song that uses multi-tracking. It’s a wonderful addition, with a second guitar holding long notes, providing a blanket wrapped around this mournful tune. It would have been interesting to hear more of that across the album, but none of the songs are any weaker without it.
This is a wonderful, emotional album meant for long solitary walks, or benches by an empty coastline. Good for fans of well-performed solo guitar songs, by someone who wears their heart on their strings.