It also appears as if the track has taken all he has out of him, judging by the panting and gasping for air at the song’s conclusion. Nonetheless, Rudd makes the most of the song, despite not really excelling as much as he does with the slower, tender material.
Rudd tries to branch out during a folksy-roots-pop, up-tempo, socially-conscious “G.B.A.” that resembles something Matthews and crew could churn out as a concert audible. And over the course of five minutes, you get the impression Rudd is in this crazy, at times cut-throat business for the long haul. But you can’t fake soul, you can’t get it from ProTools, and it is soul that Rudd delivers in abundance on this particular selection. The title track (actually “Solace Amongst the Sin” within the liner notes) eerily sounds like John Mayer as Rudd’s sweet pipes allows him to get by with simple but effective wordplay and a rudimentary guitar picking. When you throw in a didgeridoo, it makes for a peculiar but enticing affair. Yet, at the same time, Rudd has that “glass is half full” positive attitude which places him along the likes of Jack Johnson or Dave Matthews, and to a lesser extent Bob Marley.
#SOLACE BY XAVIER RUDD SERIES#
This blues thread continues on the stream-of-conscious saturated “3 Degrees” which is more of an interlude than anything else.įans of early troubadours such as Dylan and Ramblin’ Jack would do well on the quirky but terribly melodic “Let Me Be”, which resembles a series of folk-singers whose plane landed in Jamaica, as warm, island touches are sprinkled throughout while Rudd blows his harmonica when not laying down lyrics. “Do what you will while you’re able / Find what it is that you seek”, he sings.
It’s also about seizing the moment, caveat emptor, oops, I meant carpe diem. It’s a sweet, but still quite catchy, toe-tapping arrangement. It’s that feeling of isolation that makes the title of this album appropriate, as most of these songs have that sense of travel or journey to them, particularly the blues-tinged groove of the Mississippi Delta mixed with a folksy, singer-songwriter style on “Shelter”, which conjures up an image of Paul Simon playing his acoustic guitar like Robert Johnson or Muddy Waters. The album art is also quite appealing, which seems like it was captured while riding on a train across America’s farmland. I really didn’t know what to think when I got this album, having never truly heard much of Rudd, but reading enough about him to be inquisitive enough to check him out.
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