{"id":41063,"date":"2008-08-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-08-20T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/pictures-and-sound\/"},"modified":"2008-08-20T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-08-20T00:00:00","slug":"pictures-and-sound","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/pictures-and-sound\/","title":{"rendered":"Pictures And Sound"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pictures And Sound, <\/i>the self-titled debut from former Blue Merle frontman Luke Reynolds\u2019 new project, sounds like what would happen if you crossed the plaintive, scruffily soaring vocals of Coldplay\u2019s Chris Martin<\/st1:personname> with David Gray\u2019s keenly observed lyrics and hazy, slow-building instrumentation. Reynolds himself cites everything from Derek & The Dominoes to Ralph Waldo Emerson to deep winter and vintage hoodies as influences, something which is reflected in the variety that these ten tracks manage to cover. Over the course of barely forty minutes, Reynolds veers through jangly pop, gorgeously lilting harmonies, and a rollicking, powerful pairing with Willie Nelson, all the while putting to paper his clearly felt, precise yet lovely lyrics. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Following the breakup of Blue Merle, Reynolds left Nashville<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> to hole up in the Vermont<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> woods, secluding himself \u00e0 la Transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau to cull inspiration for this batch of tracks. Collaborating with bassist Dave Wilder and drummer Pete McNeal, with Jacquire King (Modest Mouse, Tom Waits, Kings Of Leon)\u00a0 producing, Pictures And Sound <\/i>has an intriguing sense of rawness, a sprawling openness lingering between the notes. Reynolds, in an interview with Bud Scoppa on his blog, compares it to Impressionist painters \u201cwho left space for you to have your own relationship with the piece.\u201d <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Opener \u201cEverything Leaves A Mark\u201d pulls you in right from the start with its spacious sound. Reynolds\u2019 sweetly weary vocals echo through the ringing guitars and slightly fuzzy drums and bass as he recounts a single night that sears itself on his consciousness forever, serving as a reminder to live life full to its edge, always. This track, like its follow-up \u201cThe Last Ocean,\u201d is over all too soon, leaving you breathless by the time it ends. \u201cOcean,\u201d meanwhile, is propelled by an irresistibly energetic riff that swerves into poppy, Shins-like harmonies halfway through. It\u2019s the lyrics that really make this one hit home, though, giving weightiness to the otherwise spiraling pep in lines like, \u201cIf this was our last waltz would you dance different? \/ If I was the last ocean, or the first photograph of Earth, would that change what I was worth?\u201d <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Overall, Pictures And Sound <\/i>is remarkably cohesive, zipping along from gem to gem. \u201cIt\u2019s You\u201d spins the traditional sappy love ballad on its head, keeping the sentiment but updating it with layered guitars, breezy harmonies, and spot-on lyrics: \u201cIt\u2019s you I love, not the thought of you \/ You\u2019re the proof I use to measure what is true.\u201d \u201cShadow Boxing\u201d builds churning riffs into an anthemic chorus, while \u201cBig Screen\u201d blends shivering drums and light sparks of guitar, all pulsing with an undercurrent of restlessness (\u201c It feels like everything\u2019s about to change,\u201d Reynolds laments in between images of flickering television screens, empty skies, and endlessly unfolding roads.) <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the aforementioned Willie Nelson collaboration \u201cEvery War\u201d is one of the album\u2019s shining points, their distinctive vocal styles meshing well amid a backdrop of rumbling bass and simmering acoustic guitar, not to mention a memorable Nelson guitar solo. The song\u2019s irrepressibly jaunty instrumentation couples with incisive, topical lyrics throughout, each line so resonant it\u2019s tough to pluck one out of the fold.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It\u2019s too early to tell, but Pictures And Sound\u2019s debut is likely to be a candidate for my Best Of wrap-up this year. It\u2019s a visceral, stunning slice of life from a singer\/songwriter who leaves his own indelible mark on everything he touches. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":29483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8261],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-41063","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-pictures-and-sound","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41063","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=41063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41063"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}