Steve Shaw - Lonedell

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 27 / 1 / 2012

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Review

It’s been six years since we last heard any new music from American Steve Shaw. We were mightily impressed with the sound Shaw produced over the twenty original songs on his solo debut ‘Lay This Burden Down’; in places Shaw’s music recalled that of mid-period Beatles, ‘Lay This Burden Down’ really was that good. But that Beatle reference was really only a small part of Shaw’s story. Shaw’s blessed with a voice that is immediately appealing. The man can actually sing and, while he’s never afraid to display the emotion in his vocals, he never has to resort to belting out his lyrics to get your attention. I wouldn’t go as far as to say his vocals are sweet, but there are certainly no rough edges showing. There’s a song on this latest collection, ‘Lonedell’, called ‘So Far Away’ where Shaw’s vocal style could almost be described as delicate, but there’s no denying the emotion and honesty he displays. While Shaw hasn’t totally left the sound he produced on ‘Lay This Burden Down’ behind (and why should he? How many artists can release an album of twenty songs with no filler?) one gets the feeling that he’s trying to develop his sound and try new tricks with ‘Lonedell’. There’s a more developed Americana vibe about this latest batch of songs, more of a country feel than Shaw has shown previously. Much has happened to Shaw in the years that have passed since he released ‘Lay This Burden Down’, which have surely had a bearing on his songwriting and maybe in how he wanted this album to sound overall. Shaw has retained both drummer Toby Mechem and Stacie Missey who again supplies backing vocals and her distinctive flute playing from the band that played on his previous album, but the other musicians featured on ‘Lonedell’ haven’t appeared with Shaw on record before and this change of musicians has probably gone some way to shaping this new direction. We could forgive Shaw, so strong and appealing were the songs on ‘Lay This Burden Down’, if he simply had made ‘Burden Part Two’, but he’s to be applauded for moving his music on and, while not abandoning his previous sound completely, adding new textures and sounds to his songs. Apart from his vocals, which are comforting and have that quality where the listener feels that Shaw is addressing just them, Shaw has lost none of his talent for coming up with melodies that once heard are not forgotten. There are two songs that follow on from each other; ‘That Old Boat’ which contains what must surely be some of Shaw’s most personal lyrics, and ‘Erida’ which illustrate perfectly just how strong Shaw’s melodies are. The weeping fiddle on the latter song courtesy of Brian Elder is particularly affecting. Without wishing to take any credit away from any of the musicians featured on this album, Elder really does make his presence felt on a number of songs, and it was a wise move by Shaw to involve a musician who could give his songs just that little bit extra. But don’t let the mention of fiddles and mandolins fool you into thinking that Shaw has taken a complete country route. ‘Vacant’ has Shaw’s vocals unusually treated in some way and Elder’s contribution adds texture and atmosphere to this song, which makes it unlike any other song that Shaw has tackled so far. Lyrically Shaw is always interesting and the whole of this piece could be about Shaw’s lyrics, but really the best way to hear them is framed in one of Shaw’s outstanding melodies. While addressing the same things he has in the past, family bonds, and his Catholic faith can be added to the usual relationship themes, by using new musicians and, maybe even more important, returning to his hometown has spurred Shaw to make the most satisfying yet questioning album of his career so far. ‘Lonedell’ is too good to pass up on and now Shaw has found this new direction let’s hope he doesn’t leave it another six years before we hear some more new music from him.

Track Listing:-

1 Silhouette
2 Whiskey Shack
3 Cricket
4 The Lemay Ferry
5 That Old Boat
6 So Far Away
7 Erida
8 Vacant
9 Tin Foil Heart
10 It Is Your Own
11 Turning to Stone
12 The Party's Over
13 The Americans
14 On This Day, A Pig

Band Links:-

https://www.sonicbids.com/band/stevesh