NEW ALBUM: AMOS LEE ~ transmissions

[Ruby]

AMOS LEE ~ transmissions



Gotta love a wordsmith. I’m sold.

Amos Lee has been around for a while now – I haven’t listened to any of his previous albums. The first track is reminiscent of Dylan / David Gray (the latter, especially - to my ears) and perhaps he has picked up nuances from artists for whom he’s opened, or toured with (Mr Z & Gray included), because I hear shades of others too. A long-time admirer of John Prine, there’s bound to be that influence here, and those others are Norah Jones, Elvis Costello, Paul Simon, Merle Haggard, Van Morrison, Dave Matthews Band, Adele, the Zac Brown Band, Jack Johnson and The Avett Brothers.

Vocally, he’s quite versatile – has a pleasant voice with a little bit of grit and is also capable of decent falsetto delivery. More importantly, he’s emotive – or soulful. Singer/songwriter encompassing a range of moods including, folk, rock, jazz, Americana and more. Clever writing, appealing melodies and well executed – he’s obviously literate and educated. Great to hear a new release with some substance! The lead track …

"Built To Fall"

Mystical, hysterical, radical, tyrannical
Cynical, the pinnacle, the pitiful in their pretty wool
The gravitas, the lives we've lost, sign your cross to pay the cost
You bend the knee quite shakily, and break my heart so tenderly
The ringing bells that tell the tales, empires rise, empires fell
Charity, catastrophe, the past decree, let the bastards be
Hold me now and hold me down, cut me with your thorny crown
And bleed me out, let the children shout, so they can see what we're all about
 
Walls were built to fall
Our gods and alcohol
I refuse the call
Walls were built to fall
 
Mystery conspiracy surrounding me in groups of three
The trinity that sits with me and pours my tea in symmetry
Breaks my bread and keeps my stead, they watch the blood fall from my head
And gather like a shadow grows, upon my pillow, fills my nose
Until no longer breath I feel, the horse, it bucks and breaks the wheel
Laughter rise like clouds of dust, we turn to heroin, to lust
And rush the pope with veils and sheaths, scream heresy
Bring forth the beast and lead us to our vaunted fate, with bones as beggars dirty plates
Fill the streets with rotten meats, with fallen angel wings defeat
Bleary eyes terrorize the blindness of our mortal lies
Injurious, spurious, incurious, in God we trust
To once again cut down our foes, we fill our pails as darkness grows
 
Walls were built to fall
Our gods and alcohol
I refuse the call
Walls were built to fall
 
I sit in Bodhisattva robes, the serpent with the servant rose
And hung him in his filthy clothes, the swollen holes sung songs for those
Who never had a chance to rise, the golden light of dawn's demise
The wind, it lashes, shakes the steel, impales the pines with pain we feel
Idolatry, the policy, the coliseum spawned by greed
The common creed, the prophecies, the dying mother's final pleas
My child, my child, why can't we know the promised land, where we were told
Would keep up safely from the cold? Forbidden cities paved with gold
But as I keep you at my breast, and guide you to eternal rest
With feral faith, I'll stalk the key and face the feckless pharisee
To keep your name in full, I'll fight, I'll follow you into the light
Forever in my mournful state, I'll rush my death to crash the gate
 
Walls were built to fall
Gods and alcohol
I refuse the call
Walls were built to fall
Walls were built to fall





There’s a good chance I could get into this album and I will be listening again. Standouts on first listen … additional to the above …

"Night Light" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFuuV_2p624

"When you Go" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ-1dIeFM7o

and "Carry You On" - 

[JeromeD]

The first person that came to mind while I was listening to this was Tom Waits.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

a great discovery Ruby, awesome stuff indeed

i listened to "built to fall" and "carry you on", loved both tracks.

certainly some Dylan in there, Prine too.

the album is on the "to purchase" list now, thasnks!

[CRAZY-HORSE]

i forgot to add:

MH, from the two tracks i listened to i would suggest you listen to this album, another fine Ruby discovery!

[Music Head]

^^
I figured it might be
of course Ruby's words could make Aqua sound good

[Music Head]

squeezed this in to end my week
of course another good find for Ruby
not a fan of the falsetto tracks
favorite was Darkest Places