{"id":41020,"date":"2008-07-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-07-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/the-things-you-think-you-need\/"},"modified":"2008-07-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-07-23T00:00:00","slug":"the-things-you-think-you-need","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/the-things-you-think-you-need\/","title":{"rendered":"The Things You Think You Need"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m pretty predictable with my music tastes; just give me a buzzed-about indie debut with lyrics that revel in wordplay and I\u2019m set. The Things You Think You Need, <\/i>the latest from Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Jay Nash, puts a (much-needed) wrench in my wispy indie-pop rut. With his deep, gravelly voice, a lushness to the instrumentation, and solid, evocative lyrics rooted in the folk classics (Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens, not to mention modern masters John Mayer, Jack Johnson, and Dave Matthews), Nash\u2019s finely-honed collection puts a new spin on the tried-and-true acoustic formula.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a warmth here that makes the songs so accessible, stemming just as much from Nash\u2019s sensitive and mutable vocals as it does from being mixed to analog tape. Just check out his clear rise into falsetto on \u201cBarcelona,\u201d one of the album\u2019s standouts, which he follows by slipping seamlessly into a lower, smokier register on \u201cKeep On Talking\u201d and a gentle, swooning croon for \u201cOver You.\u201d <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Opener \u201cSweet Talking Liar\u201d starts things off solidly with a whisky-soaked, country-tinged tenderness to it, thanks to the light touches of acoustic guitar and lines like \u201cYou won’t be the next Bob Dylan \/ You might not die at 27\/ Forsake your brothers, give up on your lovers\/ To get the things, the thing you need.\u201d Things switch gears soon enough with lead single \u201cWayfarer,\u201d which weaves into a sort of jazzy folk with its loose drums, ringing piano chords, and Nash\u2019s deep, sensual vocals. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Still, it\u2019s \u201cBarcelona,\u201d the third track here, which resonates most with me.\u00a0 It\u2019s expansive and elegant, a slow-burner that builds over its five-minute runtime to an explosive conclusion. Organs, airy backing vocals from fellow singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, and lovely lyrics (I\u2019ve given all I\u2019ve got to give \/ A Catalan girl in an absinthe glow can\u2019t pull me out from the mess I\u2019m in\u201d) \u2013 there\u2019s really nothing missing here, and it\u2019s not to be missed.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The album never lights down in one place for long: \u201cOver You,\u201d with its spare instrumentation (and some particularly nimble guitar work) is a lovelorn ballad David Gray would\u2019ve been proud to pen, \u201cForgive Me\u201d is a rollicking jazz offering, and \u201cHard Lesson\u201d and \u201cKeep On Talking\u201d are inescapably catchy, straight-up rockers, throwing in electric riffs along with some smooth piano lines. Still, for all his genre-bending, the whole effort is remarkably cohesive, largely due to Nash\u2019s distinctive, grounding voice.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, closer \u201cAwake Now\u201d is its own endearing oddity, following forty-five seconds of silence with sharp plucks of an acoustic guitar that are soon met with some electronic bleeps and a single refrain throughout: \u201cAre you awake, my darling? \/ I hear you stirring \/ It\u2019s been a long, lonely dream, I know \/ So open your eyes, you\u2019re not alone.\u201d \u00a0Sweetly sparse, it\u2019s a perfect moment to drift out on. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u00a0But if none of that sways you, then try this: within 48 hours of its release in May, The Things You Think You Need <\/i>hit #22 on the iTunes Rock chart, becoming the only independent artist alongside behemoths like Led Zeppelin and Bon Jovi (and nearly the entirety of John Mayer\u2019s catalogue). <\/o:p><\/p>\n

You won\u2019t regret checking out this disc; it\u2019s well-measured yet still sounds organic, and most of all, its resoundingly human.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":29442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8240],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-41020","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-jay-nash","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41020"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}