| CD Review: Let It Fall - Sean Watkins | |
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Reviewed by Jennifer Webb
Just like his fellow Nickel Creek band mate, Chris Thile, Sean Watkins has come out with something he has always wanted to - a very impressive solo album of his own. For someone who has been playing the guitar since he was seven years old, and winning awards from the age of sixteen, why would anyone not want him to live the dream of being the masterful acoustic guitar player that he is.
Showing off another side to his seemingly endless talents (and letting us know he is here to stay), Sean also wrote every song on the album, except for "Over The Waterfall" (which is a Traditional tune), and produced the entire collection too.
"Neo's Song" really gets the whole album going on a good note with its high speed pace and the infusion of the three different main instruments (the guitar, mandolin, and banjo). The guitar helps set the pace while the mandolin and dobro go "crazy" (in a good way) by going all over the place - from up and down and staying there, to down to up to down, and all the other ways they swept along the scales.
The title track, "Let It Fall," was written for former Toad The Wet Sprocket singer, Glen Phillips. Though, at that time, they had never even met, after Glen heard the song and decided to sing it on this album, Sean was amazed that this was actually going to happen. My favorite part of the song is where these lyrics can be heard: "And now it seems that time has put it well, words can chase away a friend. But to lie they'll bring an end, and throw it down the darkest deepest well. Let it fall, let go."
"Cloudbreak" reminds me a lot of a beautiful song, called "Raining At Sunset," which can be found on Chris Thile's album ("Not All Who Wander Are Lost"). If you listen to these two songs back to back, with Chris' playing first, Sean's sounds almost like a sequel. This is the feeling and sound that you get after the rain and after the storm, when the clouds are opening up and letting the sun shine through to light up the sky and towns beneath; the feeling you get while hearing this song is as if you can go out and accomplish anything you desire to, because you feel so refreshed and relaxed.
With the upbeat, "The Ant and the Ant," if you close your eyes and let your imagine run wild, you can almost see two ants walking around and getting into a little scuffle over something that they think is theirs and would want to eat. Or maybe you would see them marching in their neat little lines, occasionally slowing down because of a branch or a little log they would have to climb over.
"Nostalgic" is the song that, I think, really showcases the guitar and mandolin playing of Sean Watkins because of the fact that he seems to take center stage on it and you can hear his smoothness a lot better than in the other ones. What is also great about this one, is that the music really goes with the title, the whole sound on this sounds like something brought back to life from the Renaissance Era.
I just cannot get enough from the Nickel Creek members; first it was the band itself, then Chris Thile, and now Sean Watkins. Hopefully sometime soon Sara Watkins can release her own album. Whatever they do in the future, I am already one hundred percent sure I will buy it, because if they are "just getting started" in the limelight, what else do they have up their sleeves?
Song List:
Sound clips courtesy of Barnes & Noble
Album cover, used with permission of Sugar Hill.
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