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Drayton Michaels Low Stress In The Deep End music review |
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Drayton Michaels
Low Stress In The Deep End
K9 Son
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Four years in the making, Low Stress In The Deep End (K9 Son, 2005) is
released with humble confidence.
Track listing:
01 Thievery
02 Anyway
03 Back On The Ground
04 Everybody
05 Understand
06 At Least
07 What Ya Think Of That
08 Ghosts Of Manhattan
09 I'm Not Waiting
10 So Cautious
11 Right By Your Side
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Drayton Michaels has practiced his whole life for this moment and the
debut
just makes the cut. Solo albums just seem to be isolated, and missing
that
certain something. For me, it's my love of groups-- partnerships,
trios,
quartets-- and solo artists appear to lack that combined sound.
But, this album is gentle and harmonic, with subtle slide guitars and
lullabye tones. In "Anyway," it's like John Mayer revisited, but with a
simple, pretty melody with a flux of female backup vocals to add an air
of
innocence.
With "Back On The Ground," Michaels reaches new heights, pushing his
lungs
to the limit. It's the same as in "I'm Not Waiting," where he comes off
like
a young Freddy Mercury, putting his all into his singing.
Low Stress is like a good coming-of-age album that can grow on you over
time
if you allow it to happen. Further proof: "Right By Your Side."
Although the
closing track, it's the best on all of the album. A calming, nurturing
tune,
it's fit for a tear-jerker, edge-of-your-seat, gripping lost-and-found,
lost-in-love romance flick as the lovemaking scene commences with a
sigh of
relief and comfort that She has found Him and He has fallen into love
with
Her.
But then think again. "At Least" competes for standout track, covering
all
bases with a jazzy, country western rock twist that makes for a sexy
two-step. It's tracks like these that have me rethinking my
expectations.
From Seattle hails the unique black sheep, Drayton Michaels. No grunge,
but
yet contemporary soft rock. And so there you have it-- Michaels
singlehandedly puts out his debut with a gracefulness deserving of
attention.
-Arie Musil 04/11/05
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