TALONS' - Song For Babes

Mike Tolan, already a member of Six Parts Seven, conceived and developed his Talons' project during a stay in Ravenna, working the fields with his Italian uncle while listening to Will Oldham and Brian Straw.

The album, predominantly acoustic, marks a clean break from his band's lightweight post-rock: everything here is more intimate and less contrived. There's a genuine will and desire to express his own world through music on "Songs For Babes", everyday tales that don't ask to be listened to, an intimate diary whose reading isn't what matters, an honest sampler of delicate guitar chords and random sounds, melancholy atmospheres free of despair but rich in contemplative ecstasy.

Already released in 2008 on vinyl with an included cd-r, the album now gets an official CD release through Own Records with new artwork and a less elaborate sleeve design, while the content remains unchanged: twelve fascinating, impalpable lo-fi sketches. Songs that tell of fleeting encounters and platonic loves, built on acoustic structures that recall the less cryptic side of Red House Painters.

The songs are about women, and here come “Maddy”, “Angela”, “Mich”, “Sam”, told with naive passion, forgivable banalities and less-than-memorable melodies, yet the listen remains pleasant nonetheless, and a few small gems (“Emin”, “Rachel”, “Cole” and “Sommer”) give the whole project some substance.

These are brief harmonic sketches that crumble before they're ever completed, songs that spin on a single chord progression and avoid repetition, thereby achieving the charm of a vignette or a quick sketch.

Mike Tolan, like a naive painter or a clumsy photographer, creates imperfect portraits and stories, yet genuinely honest and sincere ones, capable of drawing a smile and a timid round of encouraging applause. Amid a sea of aspiring Bob Dylans, a singer-songwriter who can also sing about his own limitations is certainly something new.

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21/07/2009