Sometime last week I was browsing several music charts and on the Euro-Americana Chart I saw a name I didn’t recognize Cam Penner and his new album Gypsy Summer. So I put it on the iPOD and have listened to several tracks a few times. Well, tonight I sat down and really listened to the entire album and was duly impressed. This Canadian (yes, another Canadian) Roots Artist is a fine songwriter with a distinctive and natural vocal presence. From his website:
In a complicated world, Cam Penner finds beauty in simplicity, with an honest, spare approach to folk music that is refreshing in an age filled with so much insincerity and irony. Singing uncompromising songs about redemption and truth, Penner is a voice for the disenfranchised, a storyteller for those who never reach their destination. Penner’s fiercely personal lyrics are complemented by a gentle acoustic guitar style, and the defiant heroes of his songs are weary, but they are never defeated.
Gypsy Summer is Penner’s fifth album and according to his website is different from his last release Trouble & Mercy. Where Trouble & Mercy has a striped down sound, on Gypsy Summer Penner experiments with a bolder sounds and larger arrangements. On Gypsy Summer a full band, featuring strings, bass, keys, drums and electric guitars replace the soft acoustic sound but the path still leads to the painful emotions and brutal honesty that Penner is known for!
Since I haven’t listened to Penner’s previous albums I can’t tell you about the difference, but I can tell you that the songs on Gypsy Summer are first rate. The songss are varied from the funky groove of “My Lover & I” to the drum heavy intro of “Throw Your Hands Up” to the quiet and reflective “Hour of Need” From the Hero Hill blog of Halifax, Canada:
…..Penner still plays to his strengths; every tale is a relatable, personal stories delivered from the perspective of characters we want to know so when he adds steel and harmonies to the beautiful “Flesh & Bone”, the noisy fuzz to “Gypsy Woman” or strings and electric guitar to the inspirational “Hey My My My”, you aren’t overwhelmed by the new textures, you simply sink into the backdrops. The symphony of strings that frames the classic Penner lyricism of “Hour of Need” showcase the tasteful evolution of his sound, but the change seems completely natural and essential to his growth as a musician. Gypsy Summer might not be the record you were expecting, but it’s a must-hear.
So if you’ve never heard Cam you can check out his music at his website click on the musicplayer on the right side of the screen or at CDBaby!
Here’s Cam and “Hour of Need” from Gypsy Summer