It\u2019s possible that there exists an experience more bracingly poignant than observing a gifted, fearless artist turn their most visceral pains and joys into art. It\u2019s possible; I just can\u2019t imagine what it would be.<\/p>\n
There are really only two things you need to know to set the stage for Noam Weinstein\u2019s On Waves<\/i>. First, the Boston singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist-producer has released eight albums that have earned regional airplay and a soundtrack placement on Showtime\u2019s Weeds<\/i>; in other words, he\u2019s a talented, experienced, versatile craftsman. Second, in the space of the year he wrote and recorded the 15 songs that make up this album, his beloved mother died and his new son was born. <\/p>\n
With help from a small army of supporting players (16 are listed in the liner notes), the music Weinstein delivers here is clever and tuneful, a chamber pop smorgasbord surrounding guitar, piano, bass and drums with vibes and viola, trombone and cello, harp and pedal steel, all inhabiting pervasively warm and organic production. But it\u2019s not all bells and whistles and density of sound; each song is its own little scenario inhabiting its own idiosyncratic vibe. One minute you\u2019re skipping through a mid-\u201960s George Martin fantasia; the next you\u2019re sidestage as a Jewish kid from Boston nails a horn-heavy classic soul arrangement beamed direct from Berry Gordy\u2019s frontal lobe. <\/p>\n
When you get to the songs themselves, the adjectives begin to break loose and tumble out one after another: raw, honest, heart-wrenching, hilarious, guileless, incisive, melodious. These songs are all of the above, and more, and perhaps the most realistic aspect of this album is the way all of these moods and moments blur together into a kaleidoscope of everyday life, with all its frustrations and blessings, giddy highs, devastating lows and eyebrow-arching asides.<\/p>\n
The first six songs capture the essence of On Waves<\/i>. Opener \u201cLast Reincarnation\u201d bounces and jives through a lyric that melds Buddhist philosophy with Northeastern snark (\u201cYou\u2019re only as good \/ As your last reincarnation\u201d), establishing the core themes of death and birth while dazzling with its musical audacity. Then Weinstein goes full Motown for the celebratory, stunning \u201cMother,\u201d both loving tribute (\u201cYou always had a heart a bit oversize \/ You always had that ageless look in your eyes\u201d) and gut-wrenching remembrance (\u201cMother \/ We won\u2019t surrender \/ Won\u2019t let you suffer \/ Mother\u201d). <\/p>\n
Next up, \u201cIn The Time We Have\u201d is just what its title suggests, a melancholy ballad whose simple, stark chords and delicate lead vocal sketch the weight of impending loss. And then the circle turns and we\u2019re looking forward with joy and wonder as Weinstein celebrates his new son by imagining what the world might look like \u201cThrough His Eyes.\u201d That smile turns to laughter with \u201cHey Girl,\u201d a classic soul come-on sung by one exhausted parent to another, sweet and hilarious precisely because it\u2019s so spot-on real (\u201cHey girl, what chu do-in\u2019 \/ After we put the kids to bed?\u201d). Finally, the gentle \u201cHe Will Be\u201d waltzes through a soon-to-be father\u2019s speculation about the person his son will grow up to be, concluding that \u201cI love him \/ Whoever he is.\u201d <\/p>\n
The remainder of the album plays out across a similar landscape of emotions and themes, touching on love and loss, mortality and creation, faith and romance. Nearly every moment feels sharply drawn and fundamentally honest, from the smart-alecky philosophical musings of \u201cIntelligent Design\u201d and \u201cThe Nightmare Of Life Is A Dream\u201d to the sharp-elbowed romantic dialogues of \u201cOur Frequency\u201d and \u201cFuture Therapy Fund.\u201d <\/p>\n
Just when you\u2019ve become momentarily distracted by the above, though, Weinstein returns to the heart of the album, closing with the devastating one-two punch of \u201cI Do\u201d\u2014a piano ballad exploring the deepest caverns of devotion\u2014and closer \u201cIt Comes In Waves,\u201d an exquisite narration of grief. \u201cThe goodbyes through the glass \/ The light it shines \/ The time it shaves \/ It comes in waves \/ The grief, the grace,\u201d sings Weinstein, voice wavering but true.<\/p>\n
Is there any connection between my gob-smacked reaction to this album and the fact that my 88-year-old mother was hospitalized a few days before the first time I spun it, and my son and daughter-in-law announced the late-summer arrival of my first grandchild a few days after? Of course there is. The projection of reality onto art and its reflection back onto reality through the creator\u2019s lens can absolutely have a magnifying effect. But that\u2019s precisely what is special about this album, and most art that matters: authenticity. Beyond its effortless combination of rawness and musical craft, On Waves<\/i> is above all real, a deeply genuine and genuinely moving album constructed from some of the sharpest pains and richest joys a human being can feel. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":32637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[9781],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-44405","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-noam-weinstein","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44405","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\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=44405"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=44405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}