Monday, February 29, 2016

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: DONOVAN WOODS - HARD SETTLE, AIN'T TROUBLED



Mellow-voiced and poignant, Woods offers up a batch of songs with deep truths. They can be sad, wise, thoughtful, but they are never slight. That's led to some pretty serious respect of late, including Nashville covers by Tim McGraw (Portland, Maine) and Leaving Nashville by Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum, the closing cut here. He's also been writing cuts with Matt Andersen, two of them on his brand-new one, and the pair are touring the country together.


Despite his growing status, Woods is keeping the songs sparse and straight-forward. An acoustic feel is kept through the whole record, and the colouring is done with light brush strokes, a shot of pedal steel here, an airy violin joining later. It all helps keep that thoughtful vibe going, I'd say the killer cut is Leaving Nashville, which shows what a talent he has for mood and details, especially heartbreak.

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