Nick Dakota – Vision
This is the perfect album to make when you’re
thirty years old. Nick Dakota’s first album Vision is going to appeal to people
who’ve seen some life’s hard knocks, but still retain their youthful zest for
every day and haven’t lost their sense of adventure. There’s some settled
sounds on this album, some things still in flux. Love is still in the cards and
Nick Dakota, like much of his target audience, is still interested in having a
good time. Those listeners will find it on this Robyn Robins produced
collection. The sleek, detailed presentation of these uncluttered tunes relies
on the eternal verities to get over with its audience – direct lyrics,
heartfelt vocals, straight-forward instrumentation, and a sharply honed sense
of what country music fans want and don’t want. There is a commercial side to
this album, but it never works to cheap effect. The dozen songs on Vision own
their keep and deserve your undivided attention.
“We’ll Always Have Paris” is perfectly orchestrated
pop country with a light lyrical twist that’s classic within the genre. The
emotion expressed within the song finds a perfect interpreter in Nick Dakota.
He captures all of the affection and regret necessary for bringing this song
off and never lets the song lapse into melodramatic sentimentality. The
restraint and stylishness shown on this album is often quite admirable. In the
hands of a different performer and producer, “How Much I Love You” would have
come off as a much more clichéd affair, but Dakota redeems it with his earnest
vocal and there are a number of turns built into the arrangement emphasizing
the song’s dramatic qualities. The highlight for many listeners, however, will
likely “How Cool Is That?”, a tender litany of the virtues of an unpretentious
woman. We don’t often hear songs like this from modern country music performers
and Dakota pulls it off with an added bit of panache that makes it a definite
high point on Vision. “One Last Request” is much more in a traditional classic
country vein than the preceding songs, primarily thanks to the lonesome whine
of steel guitar underscoring some of the vocals. It’s an elegantly wrought
ballad that Dakota invests with thoughtful singing.
The big slide guitar snaking its way through “The
Deep End” gives it some mud-soaked grittiness it might otherwise lack and helps
bolster an already memorable chorus. This is another of the more finely crafted
tracks on Vision. “Past You and Me” gives the pedal steel another chance to
weave its melancholy magic in a classic country way and it matches up good with
the tone and feel Dakota takes on here. “Heart On Fire” has a slowly ascending
chorus that peaks in a memorable way, but Dakota never pushes too hard on the
song and his stylish approach complements it. He finishes Vision off with
“Sledge Hammer”; don’t mistake this for a countrified cover of the Peter
Gabriel eighties classic. Instead, it’s one of the most idiosyncratic tracks on
the album and shows Nick Dakota is comfortable with occasionally surprising his
audience. It’s an unique hybrid of a modern pop sound with traditional
instruments. This sort of ending shows another side of his talents and also
hints at the future – this is a performer who wants to succeed, but he’s never
constrained by expectations.
9 out of 10 stars
Shannon Cowden
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