UK-born Brooklyn-based folk artist Findlay Brown released his brand new album, Slow Light, today; heavily influenced by his growing interest in spirituality, history and psychedelics (Terence McKenna, Graham Hancock) and the poetry of Rumi and Kahlil Gibran, Slow Light is a 10-song stunner that brings new life to the phrase “music to my ears.”
Brown has come back to his folk beginnings with Slow Light after a foray into a more “produced” and electric sound on his last full-length album, Love Will Find You. The beauty begins with “Run Home,” featuring an ethereal chorus of ghostly harmonies surrounding Brown’s tenderly clear voice as the song gently pulses along, flowing nicely into my favorite on the record, “Made of Stone.” The track begins with delicate finger-picking and builds into a bouncy tune with a vintage vibe; Brown’s luminous tone rings through the bridge accompanied by tribal-sounding drums, like kwasa kwasa with folk sensibilities.
“Mountain Falls For The Sea,” the album’s heart-wrenching single, is sure to become a classic; Brown’s finger-picking on acoustic guitar provides a moving backdrop for his beautiful intonation as he sings “As time goes by/And love runs dry/You know how I’ll be/Like the mountain falls for the sea.”
The orchestral instrumental “Emeralds” is a mediative minimalist interlude located in the very middle of the album, an intermission of sorts, and an acknowledgement of Brown’s inspiration by the work of Philip Glass. “Ride Into The Sun,” is the perfect song for a drive in a dusty desert; it’s a very western-sounding tune, complete with horns and those lovely, ethereal voices again in the background. The experience ends with “Beyond The Void (part II),” an electronically celestial selection, which seems like a nod to Brown’s fascination with psychedelics. The track is very different than the others on the album; it’s as if Brown is subliminally ushering us into his next project, causing this listener to wonder what is to come. Whatever Brown decides to do next, it will no doubt be sublime.
Take a gander at Brown’s new video, a performance of the album’s opening track, “Run Home.”
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