Sam Baker releases new LP
PRIMARY URL: https://www.sambakermusic.com/
Following a European tour behind his new album, Land Of Doubt, Sam Baker is turning his attention to creative projects in 2017: Opening his first-ever exhibition as a visual artist, staging an original play and filming a documentary. As you may know, Sam has limited hearing after being on a bus that exploded during a 1986 terrorist attack in Peru, but he’s from Texas, now living in Austin.
With that-being said, there’s much to like about his music on this record, which brings all kinds of stories to the table, and lets him shine like only he can. Most of the songs are worth getting into something about to put them out there in the light they should be set under. It doesn’t matter where you start anymore, but if you prefer the album format, it begins with “Summer Wind” which shoots across the ears with a breezy guitar track to keep it together. But as openers go you can always start anywhere. It’s the incendiary guitar that stands out the most on this, otherwise it’s one of the more average cuts.
The next track is “Some Kind Of Blue” and it’s one of the epic tracks, even if you don’t fancy the vocals of Sam Baker. It’s only one aspect, and half of one at that because the lyrics are most vital to this track in particular-with a true Americana piece that tells a story of battle in a way that can be related to by anyone with the sense for what is rightfully done in the name of peace and what’s sacrificed for it. What a master stroke he came up with when he wrote this song. There’s other tracks to describe what’s going on but this one is right up there with anything else on in the canon. It poses a hard situation to follow.
But that is easily countered with a piano solo-instrumental on “The Silvered Moon” which comes in handy just in time to get another pleasant track in with “Margaret” which you can’t help but enjoy how he sings, as he says a nice thing or two about a loved one that’s hard not to like the pace of somehow, with its peaceful background vocals to give it a lot of depth. You’ll turn blue and grey with the different shades this brings, if you’re into this sort of music in the first place. “Love Is Patient” is next, and it’s another one of the highlights. This is a soulful ballad with some cosmic music to back it, and that’s about the only way to describe it. This track is worth playing three times over.
“Leave” is also not far behind, as it seems to go with the former track, at least in the sense of their higher quality levels. One might get bored listening to this music, but there’s always something else to hear. It’s just too bad not enough ears get reached by such efforts. “Pastures For Thoroughbreds” is an instrumental in which they all check out on this album. Other tracks are the cleverly accessible “Peace Out” with the cool catch you on the rebound vibes. And it all comes to an end with two more big numbers in “Where Fallen Angles Dwell” and the final cut that speaks for it all, “Land Of Doubt” itself, which if the best can be saved for last, then this might be the case with the awesome closer.
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Terry Smith