Greg Weeks - Awake Like Sleep
(BaDaBing!)
Greg Weeks' third album finds him exploring keyboards and other non-guitar instruments to a much greater degree than his previous albums. His songwriting skills have been honed quite a bit, and the extra instrumentation gives the already potent songs a heavy dose of added power. Between the passages of airy desolation and the flourishes of melody lies a steady calm; these songs may be desolate and downtrodden, but they don't get worked up about it. It's an eerie combination, which many singer/songwriters have tried to do, though few have done so with such perfection as Greg Weeks.
This album is brilliant due to its subtle parts. The songs are great, the mood is consistent, the vocals and lyrics are beautiful, and the instrumentation is varied and has punch. However, what really stands out in the songs are the little parts; the chord change that comes out of nowhere to completely floor you, or a quiet backup vocal harmony. There's a secondary flute in the right channel on "The One True Song" that sounds strangely human halfway through its part. Every time I hear that, I lose my train of thought, and my focus is directed solely towards the music.
The cover perfectly illustrates how this album carries itself. It shows Greg sitting peacefully in a field of untouched snow, a few feet from another Greg, who lies face down, throat slit.
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