Nov 19, 2014

Album Review: Adam Faucett - Blind Water Finds Blind Water

Adam Faucett's Blind Water Finds Blind Water (his 4th(??!) album) begins with a keening "I've seen all I need to see." You'll won't doubt him, despite his scant 32 years on earth, after listening to the entirety of this powerful and emotionally raw album.

Faucett's general aesthetic is somewhere in the realm of Jeff Buckley... even Tim Buckley, meets Otis Redding singing folk songs, meets John Moreland. Moreland, mostly for the confessional lyrical content - the others more for the actual sounds you'll hear streaming into your ears. It's rootsy, soul-flavored folk music, heavy on the soul. I'd be remiss not to gesticulate about Adam's voice too. It's otherworldly; a pure and primal howl from an Appalachian hilltop, informed with dark knowledge you'd rather not be privy to. There's a dirge-like quality to most of these songs and Adam's talents seem to fittingly hail from the other side of life's journey.


Also, his beard is far sweeter than any of those growing from the faces of poseurs who've glommed onto the craze, and it has been a part of his look for years now.

Anyway, "Melanie," the album's second track, is actually a bit more rocking than prior descriptions may have led you to believe. It's an attitudinal spiderweb of a song that basically tells off a former lover. It's also murkier than that.. offering up the likelihood that his distancing is as much to avoid the hooks of an unhealthy relationship as it is to stay out of the crosshairs of her ex.

"Edgar Cayce" references the early 1900's mystic who likely influenced the Ouija-esque cover art. It explores out-of-body experiences and, if soundtracked by steel guitar and a heavier twang, wouldn't be out of place in Sturgill Simpson's recent metamodern explorations.

The stunning "Opossum" is one of my favorite songs of the year. "Don't you ask me what you don't wanna know" it warns in the opening line. It's a dark, melodic look back at how better past days contrast with the struggles of the now in the lives of former lovers. Or at least that's what I think it's about; this one's a little hard to decipher, but it sounds damn great.

Blind Water Finds Blind Water
is a deep and beautiful record, as easy to enjoy on first listen as it is difficult to fully grasp on the 30th. Faucett's voice would be the clear calling card if the writing weren't so damn good as well. It's an album that sticks with you long after the final notes have faded. Highly recommended.


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Blind Water Finds Blind Water is available on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon and wherever else good music is sold, rented, or leased.

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