With that sublime, soaring, soulful voice, and echoes of Roy Orbison, the Rhode Island-raised singer-songwriter’s truly gorgeous debut LP captures all the range of of the love – warmth, longing, tenderness and heartbreak through classy and crafted retro sound of 60s and 70s rock. Comparable also to Elvis Presley and a dash of Harry Nilsson in delivery, his sheer vocal control is what marks particularly marks this release out as special - with effortless, swooning glissandos, gritty growls, dynamic switches of pitch and volume conveying a range of emotions alongside fantastic band and an album, produced by Jonathan Rado (best known for working with Killers and Miley Cyrus) recorded very much as a live sound. Seeing him in concert is even more impressive - it can have jaws dropping and eyes sobbing with the sheer vocal quality and conveyance of emotion.
A student of songwriting at Berklee College of Music a decade ago, Ballgame (real name Tyler Perry) then spent several years seeking direction, experimenting with folk songwriting before finding his oeuvre when, covering Orbison’s Crying at open mic nights, caused a hugely positive response from audiences . Here then, after a range of strong singles, is the fruition of songs borne from suffering and frustration, but also warmth and optimism. The title track opens with a haunting hope: “Shook the hand of unbound desire / Leaned in close and love made its fools / So many lives never surrender / When it's over and done, we try.” I Believe In Love swings along with pleasing punctuated musical phrasing, and a gorgeous outpouring and open-heartedness: “I believe in love and that's fine / Was it so naive to think it wanted me alive?” Matter of Taste, with a wonderful momentum, captures all the energy behind songwriting itself, imploring, positive aspiration: “Now I know you believe there's a power in my song.” The more stripped back Sing How I Feel very much has a Presley and Orbison flavour, of more sorrow and honesty: “So many nights on the road / I put my cards upon the table, like I'm saving a soul … Nobody made so much sense after dark / Look me in my eyes and I'll see it for you / I can only sing how I feel.” Got A New Car is a beautiful, wistful slow number, with lovely brass and Ballgame hitting some tender high notes on a theme of change and renewal: “Saw my old self, beat his brakes off / Doesn't know yet, he will feel it when he wakes up.” Goodbye My Love, even slower at a strolling pace, with wonderful chord changes and echoes also of John Lennon’s piano-based solo work, is also a real Orbison-ish tearjerker, his voice hovering like a delicate, fluttering bird. But every track, while reminiscent of another age, oozes quality and pathos. The closer is the Memphis soul-rock style Waiting So Long (“Broke my mute about seven years back now / Still getting over the pain”) but finally that wait is over, Ballgame now beginning to get the acclaim he richly deserves, this song sung with gentle patience, until he breaks out into Lennon-esque passionate screams, joined by bluesy piano into the fade out. Fabulous and timeless. Not only true talent but a very likeable one too. May his career bear more fruit, and grow onwards. Out on Rough Trade.
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