Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Stan Simon, Slammin Media 2020.
Canadian singer/songwriter Stan Simon has presented an album that seems perfectly apt for these strange times.
Songs From Strange Places is an album full of songs sung with passion about the universal feelings of love, loss, and regret that are part of the human experience.
There is an earnestness to the lyrics that drew me in, along with Stan’s beautiful vocal presentation.
Stan’s musical style includes elements of folk and country performed with a retro feel that places the music solidly in the folk era of the sixties.
His instrument of choice is finger picked acoustic guitar and sometimes I caught glimpses of Leonard Cohen in his playing style.
The track, The Tide, has a melody and rolling arpeggio motif that sounds familiar.
Could Cohen’s ‘The Partisan’ have provided some inspiration?
The musical arrangements are simple and uncluttered and they support Stan’s excellent voice that sometimes has him sounding a little like Neil Young, especially on the opening song, Only The Moon, although most of the time one is forced to acknowledge that Stan’s voice is generally better (if not stronger) than Mr Young’s.
Occasionally the musical backing fills out with elements of pedal-steel guitar, orchestration, and mouthorgan that heightens mood and emotion.
But it is always understated.
Songs From Strange Places is an album to immerse yourself in.
The songs are well crafted and lyrically interesting and the sparse backing places the emphasis on the words.
It’s an album that, in its quiet thoughtfulness, draws you in.
An ideal album for a wet Sunday when you’re curled up on the sofa and looking for something a little more involved than the usual run of the mill pop that floods the airwaves.
An album that inhabits the cross-over between folk, country, and traditional balladry.
It’s a genre that requires considerable skill and careful selection and Stan Simon has handled it well.
