“’This Disguise’ is a song about growing up and wondering what the heck that means. I remember writing the lyrics as I parked my car to go to the very dull office job I was working at the time. I hadn’t been out of college long and was just kind of wondering if this was life. Musically, its obvious inspiration is Neil Young and Crazy Horse, with an opportunity to stretch out on guitar and a great propulsive groove with some fun time changes. This one’s a lot of fun to play live.”
There’s a gentleness at the heart of I See It Now that’s impossible to resist. I’m hard to please when it comes to stripped down, folk-oriented songs as a rule. But here, the softly flowing rhythm of the guitar melody, the emotionally impactful and insightful lyrics make the song a thoughtful, delightful listening experience. Take the time to join Pelekh as he reflects on how loss can help us find ourselves – you’ll not regret it.
A vast departure from Gogol Bordello’s gypsy punk drunken revelry that Boris Pelekh swims in, as their guitarist, the title track “I See It Now” from his debut solo EP that dropped today (June 24th) feels exquisitely tender. Boris possesses a vocal aesthetic that is at once beautifully somber but graced with a stark whimsy. Held up only by somber pretty chord shapes, the duo of guitar and voice is gracefully perfect, both quietly powerful and endearing.
New York-based country-soul singer/songwriter Lara Taubman delivers sobering subjects like mortality, mental health, spirituality, survival and finding hope in an exceedingly turbulent & traumatized world on her sophomore album, Ol’ Kentucky Light, out September 16th on Atomic Sound Record Company. Taubman clearly didn’t just stumble upon her muse. She channels her earliest influences—the classic country of Patsy Cline, the great gospel of Mavis Staples, The Staple Singers and Mahalia Jackson and the contemporary folk largess as filtered through Joni Mitchell. She reveals herself in her music. There’s vulnerability and vitality in equal proportions, resulting in clarity and conviction.
Gainesville, Fla., 9-piece Southern soul outfit The Savants of Soul are releasing a series of singles leading up to a July tour. These singles will follow the release of their pre-pandemic self-titled album, recorded over 10 days at legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala. SoS have been making a name for themselves as live performers on the festival circuit, including Suwannee Rising, Okeechobee Music & Arts, Gasparilla, and Red Gorilla at SXSW. They’ve shared bills with Benjamin Booker, St. Paul and The Broken Bones, Maggie Rose, The Original Wailers, George Porter Jr. of The Meters, and the late Charles Bradley.
“Girl On a Train” is replete with woozy, warm steel guitar. Lockert might be singing about a meet-cute on a Brooklyn subway platform, but the song feels intimate and sun-faded like a classic country song.