Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Strange Part of the Country - Conil


Coming at us from the UK is a great rock-singer/songwriter, Conil. On his debut album, Strange Part of the Country, he's worked with an all star engineer and mixer, Tchad Blake (Tom Waits, Pearl Jam). Conil's voice has an interesting quality to it that's hard to label. Its not overly raspy, not overly pop, and has the ability to go from scream to lilting falsetto in one or two bars.

Strange Part of the Country is an acoustic rock piece with great instrumentation. Imagine Alice in Chains and Elbow writing a song together - that's what you get here. Years Between is a light track with easy percussion and instrumentation that surrounds his passionate voice.

On a later track, Grapevine, the verses are reminiscent of Depeche Mode (minus the layered synths), and the chorus' pull out the stops and really deliver. But perhaps his best track is Bonediggers. Its go great instrumental work - tasty use of perc and bass and just enough axillary to really sell the song. Overall, the writing and production are working well together. Its by no surprise that Conil has been receiving stellar reviews throughout the UK.

RATING: 4.5 of 5 stars

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