[I]nspired by the sounds of the city of New Orleans, a Michigan-born musician by the name of Luke Winslow-King recently released a record that elegantly meshes together Blues, Jazz, Rag-time, Folk, and Rock & Roll into an amazing package of songs that are perfect for lounging on a quiet sunny afternoon, or driving down the road with no particular destination.
The Coming Tide, brings that out in the listener, it’s really easy to pick up, it’s light on the ears, and each song has a bit of a different character, which might come as an influence from King’s adopted city New Orleans, a great melting pot of musical and cultural influences. The Coming Tide does this in what seems a near effortless manner that creates one of the most pleasurable listening experiences of the year.
The sound right from the beginning is that of a warm environment, the stand up bass reverberates, the call-and-response lyrics of the opening title track and the wonderful slide guitar solo that complements this all feel well within this bubble that King creates, as if all of this music comes pouring out of him with little to no effort. The record weaves through into a sunday morning drive jam in “Moving On, Towards Better Days,” a song so goddamn wonderful it’s difficult to bring to words the power it has to totally chill you out, the piano pieces, the horns, and King’s soothing troubadour vocals all make this one of my absolute favorites from the record, and certainly stacks up as a favorite of the year. As it moves into some of the more blues and jazz, inspired songs you really see where King is going here, and you really get the sense he is the embodiment of every part of New Orleans music culture, whether we know it or not. Another stand out song, is the slide guitar ditty “You & Me,” a charmingly written song, that’s accompanied by a jangly beat, and some more of that effortless sounding slide guitar; a track that truly is hard to avoid, on a record full of memorable moments.
Equally wonderful in her performance with LWK, is Esther Rose, lending a hand on vocals, she wraps the entire package in a time piece package that transports you the listener into another world and time. The one thing to remember is with all of the influence going on here, it may seem as though this album is not only a throwback to another time in American music, but also paying respects to a fine period of music that could be contemporarized, but wasn’t necessary because of the timeless nature of it.
The Coming Tide is a great listen, and deserves and should command your attention for its outstanding sound, vibe, and songwriting. It’s a total gem, you really can hear and feel the careful craft and love made with this record, and I can’t imagine you not finding yourself listening to it again and again. I could not recommend it more highly.
Buy The Coming Tide
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