LINCOLN SMITH is a young, handsome musician and ‘vs the black prince’ is the debut EP that he’s released on his own Just So Records.
Singer/songwriters are two-a-penny and it always strikes me as being the most lonely and difficult of formats with which to register your music in people’s consciousness. There’s nowhere to hide if your voice is weak or your playing is poor, no band-mates to share the highs and lows, no effects pedals and banks of synthesisers with which to add flourishes. And just how do you fashion something new and startling on a 6-string acoustic guitar?
Lincoln Smith need not worry about his singing or his playing as both are fine. No bum notes and off-key moments here. But his music lacks originality, an edge and a distinctive sound that grabs the attention and identifies you with the singer beyond the listening experience. His guitar playing is clean and controlled but all three songs appear to be in the same key and the plucked guitar is the only style he employs, to the extent that the tracks sound too similar to each other. There is an attractive lightness to his approach which suggests a technique to work with and develop but it will only really strike a chord if he can counter his obvious natural skill and deftness of touch by exposing more raw emotion in both his voice and song arrangements.
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Lyrically we’re also on easy ground: a song about love (‘You Are Loved’), a song about falling out (‘You’ve Got To Call’) and a song about strength of will (‘Song For Charlie’). Overall the mood is one of light melancholy, too light though to be moved or to become emotionally entangled with Lincoln’s worldview. He is playing it far too safe and straight for my tastes: making music that sounds ripe for trendy bars and cafés on a Sunday afternoon; a light accompaniment to your roasted vegetable ciabatta sandwich and large latte; music as a pleasing diversion or a welcome brief distraction rather than music with which to fully engage both heart and mind.
Talent aplenty but on this evidence music that is too anodyne and colourless for Lincoln Smith to register in the memory.
www.lincolnsmith.com
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