With Americana country twang, addled by terrific fingerpicking guitar work, Stan Snow is a master of the growing old but still feeling young tambour. The album opener, “Guard,” is ghostly, warm, and contains a backing beat that’ll make your feet start tapping along.
However, the single that is being pushed for this album is “Change,” a bluesy romp though soul-eyed optimistic wonder. Take a listen to the song below and let us know what you think in the comments.
The transition from each song to the next is almost like a concept album. Each track is like a movement in a suite or symphony. But instead of it being classical and/or instrumental, there are lyrics to every song.”
The concept sentiment is there, without a doubt, yet the songs strung together aren’t as developed as “Guard.” There is a lot of post-60’s ambition on full effect, the type of schlock John Mayer was cooking up in pre-Obama America. Let’s change the world the way our parents couldn’t! We can set the world on fire by being ourselves! The world is ours now! The icy globe that Snow describes is a dramatic one, where all that you know will be gone with the wind the second you leave its gated self-imposed prison of thought.
“As our world changes day to day we have the opportunity to adapt and ask questions. Then, plot our course and our next move, in order to stay on the track that is most meaningful to us. Part of that process involves reassessing the way that we think. Should we change our mind about something? Are we too quick to judge? Is our way of thinking helpful or not? If people were more open minded and willing to see things from other’s perspectives, would there be less conflict?
While I am all for a revolution here, the colors Stan sings about are fading behind the somber tribulations of peace and often unachievable change he is striving for. I am thankful for the guitar work on this ditty, which makes this song twice as good as it should be.
There are thirteen songs on Into the Great Beyond and I’ll declare that half of them stick with you, which is better than a lot of artists can manage nowadays. The difference between Stan Snow and other artists creating guitar-heavy have we achieved world peace yet ballads is that he really cares about what he is singing about. He is consistent in his ability to express himself in the face of modern self-inflicted irony, memery, and anti-sincerity.
Maybe that is what makes him a talent… he and his crew are old souls with enough youth between them to give those dirty Woodstock hippies a run for their hemp-coated weed-preferred wallets. Give him a listen if you like Crosby, Stills & Nash and let’s hope next time Snow releases a project, there are some Neil Young-tier riffs scattered across his poetic Seattle-based optimism.
