Wow. I just finished listening to Grey Kingdom's newest album, Light, I'll Call Your Name Out “Darkness,” from top to bottom and I couldn't move the whole time. It's worth mentioning that I didn't write a word of this review during that whole first time through the record's run-time; those who know me know that I often write my reviews within the time it takes to play through the album I'm reviewing because I feel like that first impression is the truest. I couldn't do that this time though; I was struck by this album and I didn't see it coming.
Light, I'll Call Your Name Out “Darkness” is the sophomore full-length album by Grey Kingdom, the newest project by Attack In Black guitarist Spencer Burton. Until I heard this record, I thought I knew Spencer pretty well; we're from the same area and used to run into each other regularly at concerts (most often Attack In Black shows, and those of his previous band, A Day And A Deathwish) and record stores. Because the scene was small, I saw him play a lot; I'd heard him shred, I'd heard him strum and I'd heard him sing. I thought I knew everything there was to know about Spencer Burton musically, and I'm sure I wasn't alone in thinking that.
Light, I'll Call Your Name Out “Darkness” showed me how wrong I was. On this album, Burton shows everyone what beautiful music he is capable of writing and recording, and just how far above and beyond the level of the work his peers (like most of the rest of the Dine Alone roster, and no small amount of the You've Changed roster as well) he's currently working. That isn't meant to downplay the work of those other players, it's only said in comparison because Light, I'll Call Your Name Out “Darkness” is such a remarkable achievement; it is truly a brand apart from, well, everything else I've heard this year – that's for sure.
Right from the beginning of “End Of God,” listeners who thought they knew Spencer Burton and his music will be put squarely on their collective ass, surprised. Here, Burton's voice voice carries lines like “I don't believe in god/ not tonight or any other night/ so it seems only right/ to abandon the only thing that seems right” in a warm Lyric Tenor far more refined than that of any of his former compatriots in Attack In Black, and an acoustic guitar style which is simple in performance, but intimate in fact. Such style recalls the early work of Leonard Cohen and Neil Young and those who hear it will find themselves eager and excited for more, even before the song winds out.
Those hooked early by the 'substance over style' delivery of “End Of God” won't be let down by the songs which follow it either. The focus on substance and the careful attention to the details of each song's performance presented on that first song endures throughout the run-time of Light, I'll Call Your Name Out “Darkness,” but the incredible thing about the record proves to be that no song ever just fades into the background behind the others; each track has the sparkle of fireworks. Particular standouts like “Like The Wolf,” “Dark Passing of Words,” “Dark Passing of Love,” “Field Song” and “Not Holy, Not Love, Not Light” all see Burton waxing philosophical about the concepts of loss and heartache in the finest tradition of the Canadian Folk masters, but the results prove to be captivating and exciting rather than just feeling like the work of a young man rifling through his parents' record collection for inspiration. There is more heart and more feeling to it than that; it truly does feel as though Burton has left a piece of himself in each of these songs. Burton's willingness to give himself over to his music and those who hear it is the gift which shows up best and brightest on Light, I'll Call Your Name Out “Darkness,” but the fact that the songs are so good and so far beyond anything the singer has done before is what makes this record something to cherish. It might be too early to say for certain, but Light, I'll Call Your Name Out “Darkness” may indeed mark the emergence of the next classic Canadian songwriter.
Artist:
www.greykingdom.com/
www.myspace.com/thegreykingdom
www.facebook.com/greykingdom
www.twitter.com/thegreykingdom
Download:
Grey Kingdom – Light, I'll Call Your Name Out “Darkness” – “Dark Passing Of Love” – [mp3]
Album:
Light, I'll Call Your Name Out “Darkness” is available now as a Canadian import. Buy it here on Amazon .
