Nelson Kempf's debut album Family Dollar, just out, is an inspiring and surprising record. A reflective, insular record in search of serenity. It reminded me of Blue Nile, Talk Talk, Peter Gabriel and David Sylvian records from yesteryear but has plenty of its own thing going for it.
Self-consciously arty at times but in essence a quest for stillness and beauty. It touched me in a way that the last couple of albums from Bon Iver, which I suspect were striving for a similar effect simply haven't.
Observational, in terms of its attempts to capture the fragmentary sensations that life offers us, there are plenty of moments of small beauty here. Kempf is an American artist and if an American comparison point were needed I'd probaly come up with the films of Terrence Mallick and the sensory experience they convey and inspire.
Family Dollar invites a precious review but I won't make one here. It's just all rather lovely, pure and simple. Moments of wonder stitched together to fashion something greater than the sum of its parts.
No comments:
Post a Comment