American
Interior follows the tale of a Welshman exploring America.
Non-invasive, melancholy pianos help to create feelings of loneliness and intrigue as Gruff sings from the perspective of 18th Century Welsh traveller, John Evans, the first man to map out the Missouri river. Below is a picture of a river.
Non-invasive, melancholy pianos help to create feelings of loneliness and intrigue as Gruff sings from the perspective of 18th Century Welsh traveller, John Evans, the first man to map out the Missouri river. Below is a picture of a river.
 |
| A river. Not the Missouri, but a river nonetheless. |
Welshness
is all over this album, with Gruff singing an entire song in welsh entitled "Allweddellau Allweddol". The title curiously
translates to ‘keys keyboard’, leaving me none the wiser as to what the song
might be about. Of all the tracks, the title track "American Interior" might just
be the highlight with its catchy vocal hook and chord progression. Other songs have their brief standout moments, but they don’t quite achieve the same lasting impact.
Overall,
American Interior makes for a soothing
listen that does present a nice allegory for anyone exploring the sometimes
lonely journey of life that we all tread. However, as a bit of an AD/HD
listener, the music is a little too subtle for my liking. The album goes all
country at the end and I’ve never dug that slow, lazy style of country
instrumentation although hearing Gruff comically and randomly sing over the top
that he was conceived in the year of the rooster is quite entertaining.
★★★☆☆
TRACK TASTER:
TRACK TASTER: