Ezekiel Songs - Quiet, Strong Heart
For fans of: Steve Earle, John Moreland, Wilco
Make sure you have the order right: I’m a listener first, and a writer
second. If I learned anything over the
course of earning my Community College degree in Journalism, it’s that
responsible writing is objective and unbiased.
But as a music listener, I hold strong to the idea that I ought to
maintain a healthy bias toward artists that really mean something to me – that
is to say, I will probably always show a little extra favor toward artists that
have earned it.
That’s a disclaimer regarding the following review of
Ezekiel Songs’ debut effort, Quiet, Strong Heart. I have a lot of great things to say about
it. Enough that a reader might even
question my sincerity. The only defense
I could offer in that instance is that I might be slightly biased toward Kevin
Skillern, who wrote and performed this entire record himself. Quite frankly, though, I love pretty much
everything he’s ever played on, and I love this too.
Should you be unfamiliar with Kevin, I recommend that
you put this on hold for a few moments and
browse through Scales of Motion’s extensive catalog, which will help
acclimate you to Kevin’s unmistakable guitaring and formidable songwriting (for
more on Scales, please refer to this review
of their 2011 full-length,
Nocturnes).
If you're not already friends with Kevin, start by putting in this record. From the beginning, his humble, honest voice sounds like the gentle, comforting conversation of an old friend.
Quiet, Strong Heart
covers a lot of musical ground, with the nucleus being Americana and alt
country, with some notions of folk and indie rock scattered throughout for good
measure. The most notable sonic feature of the record, for me, is
Kevin's irresistible lap steel guitar playing, which colors the tracks like
rays of morning sun on earth and trees at the start of the day.
Earnest, heartfelt
ballads are followed by inklings of backwoods honky-tonk, which in turn are
followed by straight-ahead highway rock tunes. All of them are rich with
vocal harmonies, charmingly twangy Telecaster tones, and the aforementioned
prominent (but never inappropriate) lap steel guitar. I'd defy any
listener not to crank the volume up a few notches in order to take in all the
nuance of the record's opening ballad, "Like You," or to resist
toe-tapping during the record's fifth (and probably my favorite) track
"Clear Creek."
Adversely, Kevin
covers a very small amount of ground lyrically on this record. I,
personally, find no fault in that - here is a man who is clearly impassioned and
motivated by a very few important things, and he wants to write songs about
those things. It’s so seldom these days that an artist might be so
inclined to pour out into his craft what his heart is full of. Kevin's
heart is full of love - love for God, love for his family, and love for life.
As most music does,
Quiet, Strong Heart speaks for itself. So, rather than summarizing my
enthusiasm for the record, I'm just going to leave you with this song from the
record, and a word of caution: You might not be ready for music this
honest.
