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Written
by William Elgin, posted by blog admin
The
thirteen song release Deep in the Waves from J.Briozo is the first solo release
from Jeff Crandall, songwriter and vocalist for the band Swallows. The album
came to being during the recording sessions for Swallows’ third album and
Crandall quickly moved to capture the material in its current form utilizing
some of his longtime musical compatriots in Swallows as well as other
collaborators. He covers an assortment of musical bases over the course of this
baker’s dozen worth of music and the fearlessness of weaving seemingly
disparate strains of sound into a coherent, unified whole pays off enormously
for both listener and artist alike. Deep in the Waves heralds a beginning of a
new chapter in Jeff Crandall’s creative life and we can only hope there’s more
to come under this imprimatur.
The
creativity defining this album is apparent from the first. “Blind”, the album
opener, comes off as both delicate and solid, invoking a dream-like ambiance
while still having a solid structure that’s inexorably moving towards its
inevitable conclusion from the first. There’s definitely a traditional sense of
song structure driving the first track, but it also has theatrical overtones
that are difficult to ignore. There are no such overtones with the album’s
title song, however, and the comparative grounding of this song to the first
track is notable. It’s also carried off without even a hint of hesitancy. “Deep
in the Waves” has a full, warm acoustic sound and an emotive vocal from
Crandall that sound shorn of any effects. The clear, honest presentation of his
voice here underscores what a fundamentally sound singer Crandall is and how
deeply he can get inside of a performance. Some light orchestration creeps in
with the song “Beautiful Mess” and it’s seamlessly incorporated with the
acoustic sound we heard on the previous song with excellent, memorable results.
Crandall’s vocal receives a little different treatment here and the light
doubling and echo effects placed over his voice accentuate the atmospherics he’s
clearly aiming for.
“Spinning
Out” is a wonderfully shambolic, cacophonous rocker with more than enough
swagger for the form and a return to presenting Crandall’s voice largely devoid
of any effects. His singing is double-tracked, however, to excellent effect in
a number of places. There’s some particularly punchy lead guitar that further
spices things up. The slinky acoustic tilt of “The Big Parade” has some adult
language, but it’s never served up as a cheap way of grabbing attention –
instead, it’s quite fitting with the artfully restrained defiance and anger
bubbling in the heart of this subtle, understated musical arrangement. There’s
some more striking lead guitar worked into this song that gives it just a
little added shot of attitude. “Blue” has some lovely melodic qualities that
are twisted in a decidedly moody direction and the bare bones approach of the
song focuses listener’s attention on Crandall’s sensitive vocal. There’s some
nice color from organ playing swelling from deep within the mix, but it never
threatens to overtake the recording. “Camera Obscura” continues that mood with
its gliding downcast tenor, but it has a beguiling quality that immediately
pulls you into its shadowy web. The psychedelic infused guitar rave ups of “Sun
Sun True” sound ragged but right and concludes Deep in the Waves on a satisfyingly
idiosyncratic note. Jeff Crandall’s first solo outing as J.Briozo is revelatory
and serves to confirm what many already knew – this is one of the more
formidable talents on the scene today.
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