Labels: Intense Human Victories
Review by: Oli Saunders
There’s already a guy called Adem who plays/played acoustic folk (his album, Homesongs, is incredible). The Adem playing on Apocalypsongs doesn’t obtain the same heights, but what we have here is a solid effort at chord strumming and heartfelt lyrics that most people would be proud to be able to write. The songs were recorded in 2008 but didn’t find their way onto a release until last year.
The album consists of two parts on two CDs. Part I contains seven songs, part II seemingly contains one part separated into five sub-parts which link together. The quality and melancholy crank up a notch on the latter, that’s more like it. I went to see Joan Baez last Wednesday and I remember her talking about how she fell in love with classic love tragedy ballads when she was young. Folk is at it’s best when the notes and lyrics tear at your heart. ‘Find Yourself’ is a great start to the second side and the highlight of the whole album for me. Adem’s voice overall is a bit too monotone and the guitar a bit samey too, but this is a nicely put together package.
10th March 2012