Paul
Childers - Naked Poetry
Sometimes
you just know. It’s easy to get a sense that Paul Childers is meant for
sticking around before the first song ends. He has such smooth assurance, such
certainty about his delivery, and a sharp sense of what he wants to accomplish
with each song. The thirteen songs on Naked Poetry are polished while still
quite connected to visceral, engaged vocals that never sound one step removed
from the experience of the song. Childers’ unusual command over sometimes
complex material lacks any sense that Childers is uncomfortable and his
effortless melodic and vocal glide through the individual performances is truly
bracing to hear. His skills are obvious from the first, but they never threaten
to overwhelm thanks to the artistry of his performances and the excellent
production he receives is a big part of its appeal. Naked Poetry is a powerful
statement to open a career and its resounding impact cuts across genre lines
and makes it a wonderful listening experience.
It
will move many from the first. “Music Will Pull You Through” reflects an
essential truth about Paul Childers’ art – even at its most serious, Childers’
songs never abandon hope entirely and believe brighter dawns are ahead with the
help we have in our lives. The message in the opener isn’t new, but the single
mindedness he shows in this performance gives it bracing urgency. “The Art of
Being Twenty” doesn’t have quite the same sense of urgency, but it does strike
a memorable groove, the second of many memorable grooves on this release, and
Childers serves up a highly evocative vocal that vividly dramatizes the lyric.
“Why Don’t You Stay” finds him taking his first swing on the album at an
R&B ballad and the results are quite satisfying. There are few outright
instrumental breaks on the album; this is a collection where the band genuinely
plays as such rather than sounding like a group of soloists tossed together and
chomping at their bit. When there are some brief instrumental spotlights, like
on this song, they are quite memorable.
“At
Our Own Pace” shows a little sleight of hand. It seems to begin as a piano
driven ballad, but soon shifts gears into a delicious mid-tempo saunter that
oozes confidence. “My Love of the Rain” goes in a much different direction. It
opens with classical overtones before transitioning into an exquisitely crafted
ballad. It’s quite amazing to hear how much Childers does with such a seemingly
simple emotion and love. Another of the finest pop moments on Naked Poetry
comes with the effortless charm surrounding “No One Goes Dancing Anymore”. He
has a real penchant for crafting top notches choruses that sweep listeners up
into the song’s world and this is one of the album’s best examples of that
serving the release so well. The singer/songwriter sensibility informing much
of the album reaches another high point with the tracks “Perfect Man” and
“Disclosure”. They are both moodier than most songs on Naked Poetry, but the
latter is more so. One of the album’s best qualities is this sort of diversity.
Paul Childers is rarely content to follow one route and the wide-open creative
vision he shows makes this collection all the more memorable.
Alonzo
Evans
Hey, Guy, thanks for posting. You know I am vitally interested in your career and to say, once again, how proud I am to be your grandfather and golfing confidant...............
ReplyDelete