A queer folk rock artist from the United States, Spencer Sanders brings a gentle, heartwarming sound in his tunes, earning praise for his strides in singing and songwriting. On his latest album, “Almanac”, he presents a beautiful time capsule of songs — keep reading for my thoughts!
The opener to “Almanac” is “Rust” — and from the key-toy chimes to the gentle guitars, the song has this warm, comforting sound that’ll have you hooked in a second. The pianos form a lush, velvety carpet of sound; and the vocals are gentle and mild-mannered.
Segueing into the second track, “Someday Soon” starts to bring out the true talents that Spencer has — his songwriting. The lyrics are deep and beautiful as he paints a message of hope in love, all executed with polish and poise in his singing. There’s much to appreciate about the writing in this song as well as the album as a whole — and I’m glad this track gets it so right.
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“Wishing Wells” brings a slightly more energetic sound in its rhythms and pads — all while keeping the core essence of “Almanac” alive; as Spencer starts to tap into some of his higher registers, the vocals come through clearly, projecting a warm energy that leaves you swinging and swaying to the rhythms. The drums keep great time on this track, keeping things chugging along rather beautifully.
Coming to the production of “Almanac”, the ensembles play a large part in creating the kind of atmosphere that this album brings — right from the mellow pianos, to the acoustic guitars and the vocal layers, each element throughout this album is thoughtfully placed, and delightfully executed. The soundstage is wide, the vocals ring through clearly, and the mixes have a sense of space, and do not at a single point sound rushed or out of theme. The whole album presents a united, cohesive sound that makes one track seamlessly meld into another, keeping the listener hooked from beginning to end.
The second part of the album includes the title track, “Almanac”, which brings the best of the album together into a sweet, gently performed piano and vocal ballad, while “The Ghost” has a slightly uptempo, faster pacing, with more lively vocals, while still retaining that emotive tinge that makes this album so good to listen to.
The album finally closes out with “The Last Page”, a fitting end to “Almanac” in that it makes you want to skip right back up to the first track to listen to the whole fifteen tracks all over again. The lyrics constitute a befitting end, as Spencer goes, “There’s something about knowing the end of a story…”, while the themes of the rest of the albums come together beautifully.
Some other tracks of note from “Almanac” include “Maybe…” for its soft, intimate lyrics, the unplugged sound of “Song of the Morning”, and “Healing” for its brighter, distinctly American country sound. The whole album is filled with inspirations from country and indie folk music, and we’re all for it!
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All in all, “Almanac” by Spencer Sanders — the kind of album that you’d love to listen to after a long day at work, when all you’re looking for is to be comforted, and all you’d want in that moment is to feel upbeat, hopeful, and inspired. And for that, this album earns a two-thumbs-up recommendation from me! Take a listen to the album here:
Follow Spencer here:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/seeminglyspencer/
YT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaCXhuC7YEiYlsWfQ66wFug
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