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Trevor Owen Presents New Album 'And The Moon Rising'

At just ten songs in only 28 minutes, Trevor Owen’s And the Moon Rising

is a relatively brief project. However, there is much goodness packed

into this small package. Owen’s been playing folk music since back when

folk music was still a relatively trending style. His music now, though,

is filtered through all the various folk-rock genres that have come and

gone since then. It’s a quiet, sweet set of songs.


With Owen’s Canadian roots, it’s difficult to get away from a few Gordon

Lightfoot comparisons. Lightfoot was and is a folk music icon, and one

that also came up during the Sixties. He, too, is a gentle musical soul.

When Owen sings, he does so just like a polite Canadian, much the same

way Lightfoot did.


Calling Owen’s album folk music, however, would be selling it severely

short. For example, “Horizontal,” which sounds like an extremely polite

way of describing sex, is built upon a jazzy acoustic piano groove,

whereas “I Get That Feeling” incorporates soulful acoustic piano into

its ballad form. It sounds like one of those Beatles ballads from back

during their “Let It Be” era. The song also includes both an electric

guitar and organ solo. On “Not the Only One,” Owen sings about ‘getting

horizontal’ with the wrong woman, whereas “Richland Woman Blues” is an

upbeat, blues-piano track where Owen puts a little unexpected gruffness

into his singing voice.


STREAMING:

Yes, there are songs that let Owen sing in an upbeat mode. However,

there are also more traditionally folk-sounding numbers, too. One of

these, “Sweet Bitter,” applies quiet piano and an arrangement not unlike

much of Jackson Browne’s wonderful folkish rock from the ‘70s. Although

this one has the word “bitter” in its title, sonically, it is super

sweetness throughout. The opener, “And the Moon Rising,” which tells the

story of memorable romantic encounter, also incorporates more soft piano

work. It’s given a lovely, acoustic arrangement, including subtle guitar

and unobtrusive backing vocals. It’s followed by “Fire Moon,” which

finds Owen singing in a voice that hearkens back to Warren Zevon, both

in his tone and phrasing. Zevon could well play the wild man through

many of his songs, but he also had a more reserved side, too, and this

song brings out traces of Zevon’s quieter personality. Instrumentally,

this one includes cello and elastic bass.


ONLINE:


Owen’s music is not meant to give you a gut punch and force you to take

notice. Instead, it kind of sneaks up on you. It’s fun, in a soft way,

but also pretty and heartfelt. It also does hearken back to a far

different musical era. An era when honesty and sincerity trumped shock

value. This is music you can sit back and simply enjoy, without having

to read between the lines. Owen writes songs that are straightforward

and to the point. They just don’t make ‘em (much) like this anymore.

Thankfully, though, Trevor Own is still a bit old school. He creates

songs that contain plenty of warmth. And the Moon Rising is oh so

appropriate for warming up to on a cold night.

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