Adam Balbo – Big Kid Now
There’s a lot in my inbox at the moment, but very little indeed that I am finding terribly exciting. Fortunately an old favourite of mine (well, one album into his career, but you know what I mean) has delivered a six-song gem of low-fi, slightly off-beat songs that cheer my awkward little soul.
I loved Adam’s last record, as much for the completely no-frills recording as for the intelligent, perspicacious and occasionally venomous lyrics. This is no different, reminding me of Bob Dylan if anyone. It’s difficult to write songs with wit, I find. You don’t want it to be comedic, and this is something Balbo skirts nicely. He’s never a comedian per se, and his acerbic turn of phrase can amuse, but it is usually wielded in such a pointed, black manner that you don’t find yourself laughing exactly.
It’s difficult to describe how someone ends up with a songwriting style like this. The music isn’t merely a vehicle for the lyrics, although it does verge on beat poetry at times; it is perfectly possible to imagine him delivering all his songs acapella. Nevertheless I like the backing, rickety and simplistic as it is. I’m starting to genuinely prefer sketches. I prefer them in the art world, most of the time, to finished paintings or sculptures, and it seems that I am now getting that way in the music world.
It’s not that things are invariably ruined when they are fleshed out and polished up, it’s more that it takes surprisingly little to express an idea beautifully, and more dynamism and intrigue tend to be in the sketch than in the Great Works.
Adam Balbo – Big Kid Now
And one from previous album, the superb 6 Outta 9 w/ Beats: Adam Balbo – Samba Blues
Buy all these from Adam’s MySpace page.
I’ll lend you his previous album, Bartos, I think you’ll like it. Earlier stuff is also available for free on his MySpace page.
I’ll do you a swap for the new woodpigeon.
Done and done.
I do quite like this.
It’s not something I’d immediately rush out and buy, but I know what you mean about the lyrics. It’s a difficult thing to pitch. Never really laugh out loud funny, but enough wit to raise a smile.
Which is a difficult thing to pull off – too subtle and it can be overlooked, too obvious and it can go a bit Weird Al Yankovic. (shudder).