This is ADAM SWEENEY'S debut CD with a band. I’ve not heard his earlier three solo efforts, but this is certainly good, and in places very good.
The band comprises Adam Sweeney on vocals, guitar and banjo, Katie Sawicki on vocals, banjo, keyboards, David fuller on electric guitar, accordion, Jeremie Murfin on electric guitar, and Zachary Pace on bass guitar. The band’s sound is augmented by Jake Joliffe on mandolin, Brian Free on organ, Nate Purcelly on trumpet, Christy Kuiken on vibraphone and Kendra Carpenter on cello.
The tracks on this CD broadly fall within the indie folk rock/country rock category, and work began on this album in late 2009, before spending the majority of 2010 laying down the tracks in various locations in Portland, Oregon, specifically choosing those locations to get the required sound. There are ten tracks on the album.
The opening track ‘Bound to Go’ showcases all the best things about this album. The track is crisp and clear, a guitar and banjo folk song that chugs along, with the vocals having depth and clarity. (It’s obvious that the locations used were spot on to get the best sound!) Lyrically, Adam uses great descriptions that really paint a picture in the mind of the listener: - “I feel the brightness fadin’ all the way/ Clouds mark the end of sunlight’s summer’s rain/ And as the dark nights settle after all the leaves have turned to flame/ I’m going down where my soul’s bound to go.”
Following from this, ‘Child of Everyone’ has slight Gaelic undertones and uses guitar and cello very effectively. Once again, the lyrics have nice descriptive twists, for example, the chorus runs: - “The light of the moon reflects from the sun, and I am the child of everyone.”
The CD alternates at times between poppier orientated tracks, and touching tender ballads. ‘More Than Love’ bounces along with an almost marching drum beat. The lyrics here are simpler, but no less effective for that in a tale of love and loss: -
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“The more you love your lover, the more you hate your lover,
When you lose your lover, cause it’s more than love you lose.”
‘Life I’ve Sown’ is another fast poppy guitar based song. Like a lot of the tracks here, it covers the theme of love, loss and regret. The lyrics here are some of the best on the album:- “I met your mother when I was still young and green/ With a restless spirit and weaker flesh that I was torn between.” The character in this song looks back, possibly wishing he could change the past: - “All care to the wind we’ve thrown, when love is a thorny ground/ With all the seeds in my life I’ve sown, the fairest flower I let the weeds choke out.”
On the slower side, we have ‘Friendship’, a slow cello and mandolin based heart touching ballad, here the simple lyrics can touch deeply: - “In love with the one kiss, we shared and called friendship/ Cause sharing is what good friends do.”
‘The Fall’ is another slower track, a country song about how love creeps up on people: - “I was just another pilgrim on my narrow way; to my wild beast I was captured/ It crept up, struck me on the head and dragged me to its cave/ For I’m a slave to a new master.”
On the whole I really enjoyed this album with its lyrical twists and Adam’s ability to paint pictures with his words. Whilst this is likely to appeal far more to the American than the UK market, anyone who likes this genre should certainly check this out.
Adam Sweeney & The Jamboree online
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