A work of art has the ability to look back at your roots. Not ancestral, but natural. From dust you came, unto it you will return. Scott Lloyd is an English musician who has proactively been penning prose that he translates to beautiful songs. His latest album Waterlands, is an effort to rekindle his romanticism with nature and the elements. Let’s see what brought him to be.
Meet Me at the Bluebell is the opening number. A friendly chime, I suppose extending an invite to the local pub. Acoustic guitar fingerstyle wraps itself around the deeply personal lyrics-for a story that this protagonist loves to hear. It is simple, honest and done in a take like a musicians natural instinct would be.
Heart of hearts
In the Water blends Scott Lloyd’s immaculate arrangement ideas with contemporary skills and pure, unedited songs. It can be considered as a flowing creek, back to the source from a source. It is simple, is in the same natural tone as the previous track. If change was the point of these strange times we’re living in, Scott Lloyd has distilled and embellished it with his next track. With Different Eyes looks at this world through the optimistic eyes of change and how the world should be better after this predicament. The strings ring out with his simple chordal puzzles, and sticks to your memory effortlessly.
Running was released as a single earlier this year. Phasing in from a radio mono to the stereo punch that it is, this is an upbeat, happy track for all. It has the soul and reach through the lyrics and chiming, layered guitars that resonate a Johnny Marr style of instrumental composition. The chorus suspends in your memory as it should, a quick-paced number with plenty happening.
Like the wind flows, Stepping Stones rises and falls. As it is opening, it gently caresses your psyche-to depict a flow like no other. The heart pump style beat allows to have a rhythm and tempo, without taking too much attention. The simple lyrics are the spine of the song, along with the flowing synth in the background. The title track is next in line, with an interesting beat offsetting the vocal phrasing and arrangement. This is the trip back to the waterlands, where Scott Lloyd croons about his love for nature. His voice never straining, turns to an emotional preach in moments, yet never loses control. The bassline walks along Scott’s voice, giving it a dimension usually unheard. Great production.
Mimicking nature-by prose
Skylarks takes flight like the beautiful wind cutters that they are. Using a simple rhythm to express the freedom of days, Scott Lloyd makes sure that he paints a picture with the words and metaphors that shape his songs. His motive is transporting time to you, his vocals and vulnerable strings do the rest of the magic. Old Scrapbook once again brings the first tracks’ fingerstyle chime as the focus. It revives memories of old, and the times that have passed that we rely on, when they get difficult now.
It’s All for You is a ballad style number that professes love in the honest ways of the verse that Scott has as a trademark. This is one for the encore, with its simple, emotional lyrics and well crafted chorus and breakdown sections. The instruments follow him, reinforcing his voice to be a powerful antidote to the different forms of pain we’ve felt. The chorus us especially uplifting, one of my favorite tracks on the album.
Miss You Dearly looks at Scott upping the rhythm and tempo after a few numbers. The balance has been kept very well, with moderation and listening as a music lover. This is one where all the instruments shine as well. Followed immediately by the acoustic number California, the harmonica is brought out for the intro. Sounding evermore like Dylan in his ability to make you feel what he does, Scott Lloyd has done here what he does best-create a pocket of time where your troubles dare not enter. With images and words, he makes an escape like never before, and his songs have always retained the maturity of matters of the heart. Here he takes us back to his home.
Listen to his album here:
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Discovered via http://musosoup.com
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Self professed metalhead, moderately well read. If the music has soul, it's whole to me. The fact that my bio could have ended on a rhyme and doesn't should tell you a lot about my personality.
