
I shouldn’t be telling you this, but good news simply ain’t good for business nowadays. Not big business anyway. See, the mathematics of those sorts of things are complex, no doubt. But, they involve someone losing a lot so that others can win.
The reason that I’m mentioning this is just to remind you that it’s time for your recurrent self-administered shots of righteousness and optimism. You won’t even have to leave your house for it. Thank the heavens; at the very least, some of the folk singers are still telling the truth and fighting your corner.
Ezra Bendigo’s “Walked in the Water” is an acoustic guitar-based album. It’s a protest record, but not the kind that should start you off screaming into the streets and joining a mob ready to storm the government. For Bendigo, there is still an escape in keeping matters simple and understanding; as George Harrison might’ve said, all things must pass.
Album opener, the title track, “Walked in the Water,” gives listeners a good measure of what to expect. Presenting music in the old-fashioned way, with just the words and a guitar, is tricky territory. Thankfully, Bendigo’s songs thrive with so much space around them.

Most of the time, they ring like renditions of old gospel songs. Bendigo is not a soul singer but rather a vocalist with plenty of soul and mighty good control over his gravelly vocals. “Congreve’s Ship,” for example, has words about ships being pummeled by waves and nods to David’s Psalms, which has an almost later-day Van Morrisson quality to it.
While there’s reason to be hopeful, there are arguments for losing it at times. On “The Rain Will Come,” Ezra Bendigo sings of a world, ours, which we seem to have no power over, and on “Peter Kelly,” the songwriter talks about people trying to find meaning in their lives. Meanwhile, “Lost in London” is about all those who might feel like they’re drifting aimlessly through existence.
The point of making any record is to find a way to control sound. Less is often more, but less can also be boring. Ezra Bendigo avoids this throughout by playing into his strengths. His use of open chord tunings gives the song a rich resonance, while his voice is that of a seaman who left the world for a while and found it no better than when he left it. It all ends up creating a strong sound.
Where does it all leave us? Ezra Bendigo may sing about seeing a place “deep down where the dead men go,” and it’s easy to believe that voice. But it’s also easy to believe him when he tells you that here is better, and here can be improved. That’s the truth and any true folk singer, like Bendigo, knows it.
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