Album Review :
Matthew Cavanaugh - Potential. Meaning. Hope

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Artist: Matthew Cavanaugh
Album: Potential. Meaning. Hope.
Label: Staircar Records
Reviewer: Tyler Hess

Tracklisting:

01. The Rain In The Morning
02. Rose Tyler
03. 3 Months ‘Til December
04. Under The Silent Stars
05. Frail
06. Crimson
07. Seen
08. Fade
09. Isolde (Dear Someone, Someday)
10. My Only Comfort In Life And Death
11. The Sun In The Evening

February is almost over and signs of life in the music world are just starting to appear again. I’ve been fairly quiet this month, but not because I’ve wanted to, but because there just hasn’t been anything exciting enough for me to mention in weeks. However, I finally ran across something that was at least worthy of mention, if only because it matches every other thing that I’ve been given lately. Acoustic guitar, you are a very popular instrument lately.

Matthew Cavanaugh’s debut, Potential. Meaning. Hope., is basically a very simple acoustic folk album with guitar and keys/synths abounding to attempt a full sound, while still leaving that under-produced feeling. The songs are simple and are generally ignorable, but play for nice background music on a lazy day. There are a couple of tracks that get me to pay attention to more, being “3 Months ‘Til December” and “Seen”, with the latter being a call to change the world and the former being a bit of a loneliness pill.

This album could use quite a bit more creativity, but if you are into simple acoustics and vocalists that don’t really sing then you might want to check it out.

[Myspace] [Staircar Records]