Strumbrush – Follow Close
Similar artists: (Sandy) Alex G, Nick Drake, Elliott Smith, Phoebe Bridgers, Big Thief, Helvetia, Deerhunter
Genre: Indie Folk, Acoustic, Emo
Perhaps creating art is really just an attempt at creating an order. After all, there are so many things that none of us can control. This notion may be enough to make most people reach for anti-anxiety medication. Thankfully for them, artists have found a healthier, more playful alternative to numbing their brains.
Naturally, this kind of remedy comes at a price. The artists make themselves feel better by expressing their deepest thoughts. But, once they do, there is nowhere else to hide. All the world receives a key to their most private thoughts. The entire world knows what scares them, thrills them, and moves them to create their works. It takes real guts to be a great artist.
Strumbrush’s Follow Close takes a journey to the centre of the soul and broadcasts the surgery in real-time. Once the scalpel is already in then there is no reason to try and wash away all o the blood from the operating table. Follow Close‘s gentleness and honesty is the kind of song that puts the listener and the songwriter and those kinds of personal terms. It must take a lot for this kind of cantor, but, certainly, there are those who will understand and treasure this.
Thomas LaVine – Ghost of Appalachia
Genre: Indie Folk, Folk
It takes only a few seconds to convince people to listen in on a story that will make them feel better. It takes a few minutes to really get folk to zero in on a story that involves human suffering, and the need to overcome the odds. It’s all proven and this is the reason why advertisements usually appeal to the part of your brain that craves relief and relaxation.
This, in turn, means that seriously songwriters, those who write about weighty topics have their work cut out for themselves. These sort of topics, naturally, inspire those with a proclivity for digging deep into the human experience for answers to life’s eternal questions. These are also the kind of songs that tend to age best as they’re untouched by summery trends. But, they demand a lot of an audience.
Thomas LaVine’s Ghost of Appalachia is a song about changing times, and a desperate cry meant to freeze the world in place. It’s a serious song, the kind that demands your attention. However, if you opt to award that, the mysterious singing and the pacing of the track are likely to attach to your imagination, inspire you and make you look with empathy at the characters described in Thomas LaVine’s work.
