Album Review - Adrian Crowley ‘Long Distance Swimmer’
From the opening track ‘Bless our Tiny Hearts’ you can already appreciate the staid, earnestness of Adrian Crowley’s traditional folk roots in his 4th album to date, ‘Long distance swimmer’. His charming low-key range draws the listener in as each song flourishes naturally with hushed guitars, sparse drums and an orchestral background which paints a hauntingly beautiful landscape.
The embracing nautical themed lullaby ‘Star on the harbour’ encapsulates the narrator’s rueful reminiscences of being lost at sea. ‘We can’t last another night drifting over heavy Atlantic swell....call of the tempest or my bones will be mixed with the coral’ expresses a sailor’s last lament to put his own body to rest.
While most of the album presents itself with heavy hearted melancholy, it occasionally pulls the listener out of their somniferous state with such buoyant, upbeat styling’s as ‘brother at sea’ and ‘icy waters’.
Effortlessly deep and moving from start to finish, Adrian Crowley’s ‘Long distance swimmer’ tells a story with imaginative lyrics in the company of strings. If Crowley’s music hasn’t already cemented itself into your heart and stereo, this surely will be the album to take residence there.
Steve Dejong
Musician- ‘Kincaide’
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
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