Dyan Champagne is a new artist to me, with all of the trademarks of an artist that I typically listen to - acoustic folk / singer-songwriter. This album proves to be a thoughtful, quiet and interesting listen. The lyrics are certainly something to read and listen to, which is interesting. There is a good attempt at a sort of story in each, but I got the feeling of a certain smugness with the words here; that the lyrics are different and abstract simply for the sake of being different and abstract. It sounds very good in this case, but it makes the album somewhat aloof, which might make some Pitchfork listeners and reviewers happy, but there are other artists that have done this and who have done it better.
This is a far different sound from other acoustic artists, such as Alexi Murdoch or Nick Drake, which is nice, to some degree, although his sound isn't as good as either artist. The change in pace is different and somewhat unique, which is nice. Too often it seems, I've been finding a lot of artists that are fairly good, but very similar. Here, we have a promising start, but a fairly different sounding one.
Overall, this isn't a bad album, but while it provides a fairly interesting listen, it's mired in a sense of self-importance that it hasn't earned yet.
From Here To There - Dylan Champagne
Junk Parts - Dylan Champagne
