|
 Thomas
Denver
First in Line
For more information on Thomas Denver please
visit http://www.thomasdenver.com/
If you’re not first in line to get the
latest offering from Sweden’s Thomas Denver then you don’t know what
you’re missing. Following up his acclaimed debut CD “Hope to Her”,
Denver comes back with his latest offering; an EP that consists of
five tracks – two not available on the debut and a jaw-dropping live
recording of “First in Line” featuring Rosie Thomas duetting with
Denver and Damien Jurado on harmonica. Denver is an underrated
songwriter by all means. And that might not be such a bad thing.
While the world is accustomed to Euro-pop being the predominant
musical export from the other side of the Atlantic, it’s there in
the foreground that brilliance is born.
Where most of the
world has lost sight of the truer music of music thanks in part to
the corporate marketing machines that shovel garbage out by the
truckload, those who seek out music with a truer meaning have
stumbled onto icons of our time, both late and great. From Bob Dylan
to the late Townes Van Zandt and Gram Parsons artists who know how
to relate to their audience have made a mark in time that we won’t
soon forget. Many of the qualities of the aforementioned greats can
be found within Denver. He takes the fine craftsmanship of Dylan and
mixes it with the sly cunning wit of Van Zandt and delivers it with
Parson’s compassion making him a highly marketable
asset.
While somber and lacking an urgency to make you want
to get up and dance, “First in Line” does something different. It
commands you to listen. Once you do you’ll find shades of your
everyday life strewn throughout the four original tracks that
predominantly deal with love, loss and realization. It would seem
that Denver’s heart could use some mending. With a pair of duets
(the aforementioned “First in Line”) recalls the finer moments of
Parsons and Emmylou Harris, while the closing “24/7” he duets with
Jessica Magnusson. The two bookend the EP marvelously and are worth
the price of the album alone. Taking a look at the city and the
outside world can be a difficult if not frightening task. But it
would seem that Denver is ready to take on the world and that he’ll
be the first in line to conquer it. Grade:
A |
