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Written
by Daniel Boyer, posted by blog admin
Jeff
Crandall’s work over two studio releases and numerous live appearances with
Minneapolis’ Swallows has positioned him as one of the indie scene’s best
vocalists on the rise, but his first solo album as J.Briozo, Deep in the Waves,
should gain him further renown as a songwriting powerhouse and compelling
performer away from the auspices of his full time band. He tries his hand at multiple forms with this
collection and achieves across the board credible results without ever
straining listener’s acceptance. There’s a rare level of confidence coming off
this release for a debut solo album and one can only ascribe that to the
likelihood that Crandall began recording these songs with a sure idea of what
he wanted the final results to sound like. There’s little question that he’s
pulled that off with considerable aplomb.
There’s
obviously a lot of thought and consideration given to these thirteen songs, but
there’s ample evidence of a loose, spontaneous approach as well that’s capable
of capturing true studio magic. This balance is heard strongly in the album
opener “Blind” with its keyboard propelled arrangement and the measured
duet-like aspects between Crandall’s voice and the artful instrumentation.
There’s none of the acoustic musing in the opener that we hear in the album’s
title and second track “Deep in the Waves”, but it also features a much cleaner
and accessible approach than Crandall adopted with the first tune. The folksy
strum of the song’s foundational acoustic guitar pairs up very nice with his
voice. The alt rock confidence coming from “Spinning Out” makes good for
Crandall and his listeners thanks, in no small part, to how much the mileage
the song gets from its title and the steady fundamentals that enable the track
to go deeper than most. It’s one of the few tracks on Deep in the Waves to show
off some lead playing, as well, and it punctuates the song to magnificent
effect.
“The
Big Parade” betrays some bluesy influences while still following the acoustic
template that’s been established a few songs in on Deep in the Waves. It’s one
of the album’s most involved lyrics and comes off well, colloquial yet
eloquent, yet the language manifests a rough and tumble quality we don’t get
from the stylish and satisfying arrangement. There’s just enough hint of the
epic in the song “Catalonia” that helps it stand out from the pack and the
obvious work put into realizing the vocal arrangement leaps out as one of the
song’s true highlights. Influences from psychedelia rear their head at various
points during the recording and one of the best examples of that strand in
Crandall’s musical tapestry comes to life with the song “Firefly” and its focus
on atmospherics never plays strained. The tune “Santa Cruz” opens with a mix of
ambient electronica before spartan acoustic guitar swells out of the mix
alongside Crandall’s dreamlike, smoky mid-register singing. It’s one of the
album’s shorter tracks and pairs up well with the next song and album closer “Sun
Sun True”, a practically raga-like electric guitar workout with big, ringing
chords and an inspired vocal from Crandall. This song closes Deep in the Waves
with much of the same individual air surrounding the songs from the first cut
onward. Anyone who appreciates fine, stylistically diverse songwriting will
find much to admire on this release.
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