seth mendenhall - sea foam

Seth Mendenhall

Sea Foam
self-released; 2013

3.6 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

Seth Mendenhall is a self-described DIY musician from Collinsville, IL who has been writing music for about two years and recently got into production as well. He has been hard at work and released an acoustic-based collection of songs called Sea Foam. This 19-year-old is on to something. He has a pleasant voice, can pick quite a melody on the guitar and the material feels refreshing like the morning dew. It’s feel good music that will enhance the serotonin in your brain while you are making breakfast for you partner.  The lyrics aren't incredibly original but that is easy to look past because of the way they are delivered. 

The opener “Soothing” works because of the restraint it applies. Instead of a whole drum kick Mendenhall only uses the hi-hat and kick drum, the guitar is palm muted and his vocal harmonies are subtle. The song could have easlly become more grandiose but Mendenhall showed more talent by not going in that direction - the song is in fact pretty soothing. 

Mendenhall brings it up a couple of notches with “Ending.” I really enjoyed the comforting guitar part and his vocal melody on this one. He sings, “Watch the sunset, never to rise See the earth sink in front of our eyes Just give me one wish to slow down Please take your time Don’t end just yet.” The song is about escape and feels like that for its duration. 

“ILY” is a song about innocent young love and will make even the most grumpy of bastards smile. The song is a tad hokey but I'm ok with it. The highlight of the album is arguably “Gone.” It relies on Mendenhall’s good ole trusty guitar and attractive voice,

Mendenhall is writing simple acoustic songs that re enjoyable to listen to. Nothing more, nothing less

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