Gareth Wood is a solo artist who recently released a nine-song album entitled Juvenilia. There are nine very eclectic songs. I had a lot of trouble getting a handle on what vibe Wood was going after because some of them felt very distinct from each other. I felt there was a mixed batch of tunes with some songs resonating with me a lot more than others.
He opens with “Bring Me Home (Homesick)” which is one of the songs that stuck out to me right away. It’s has an atmospheric feel to it and could draw some comparisons to a song like “Everything in Its Right Place” by Radiohead. The song felt fluid and didn’t drag. The atmospheric, warm vibe of the first track is almost completely obliterated by the second track “Easy Being Me” which revolves around mid-range-y guitar tones. His vocals sound natural here and he sounds great. Tame Impala came to mind. Two for two in my book. “Fuzzy Logic” is where I starting to doubt the production decisions. The auto-tune type effect on the vocals on the first run through sounded too distinct. I warmed up to it but still I would have preferred a more natural performance against the angelic background. He goes a more traditional route on the delightful “Sunday Morning” which has some of the best melodies on the album. The biggest misstep on the album felt like “All I Feel.” I didn't like the drum sound and felt the song was repetitive and didn't need the almost five-minute runtime. The next two songs “Talk On” and “Duende” sound like completely different artists. “Talk On” is sweet, heartfelt and a well delivered guitar tune while ““Duende” is an new age-y sounding electronic composition. Wood goes into slightly experimental territory with “Paper Planes.” He closes with my favorite song on the album entitled “No Ordinary You.” The thing Wood has to work on going forward is making an album sound cohesive. Tones, textures and aesthetics need to be sewn into the cloth of an album all the way through. That’s something a great album has whether it's Kid A by Radiohead or Discovery by Daft Punk. I preferred the guitar driven material with the more natural sounding vocals. If he is going to go the more electronic path he has a bit of work to do to be able to compete with similar sounding artists like Fennesz and Four Tet. I feel like he should consider working with a producer to help zero in on a sound and really harness his talent. He has a ton of it. Overall, Juvenilia has a hodgepodge of songs that are more enjoyable if you approach it as a mixtape. I’m looking forward to where he goes from here.
1 Comment
5/5/2018 03:00:04 pm
I heard him today for the first time on soundcloud and was immediately drawn to his music. The beautiful melodies and soft vocals are very appealing to me. I like music to listen to while I work that doesn't interfere with my thoughts. At times it seemed the music got mushed together. The parts weren't distinct at times and sometimes the music overpowered the vocals. I'd like to hear His voice more. But if this is the first of what he's doing it is very good and I will listen again.
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