Stephen Jacques Releases An Amazingly Performed Surf Themed Album
A full-length album from Steven Jacques recently dropped, and this record delivers layers upon layers of rich guitar tones, melodies, and flowing textures that blend elements of Americana, rock, folk, and plenty more, all rolled into this wonderfully woven record that is packed with tons of character from start to finish, which is one of the things you end up really enjoying most about it all.
This is a pretty big record, showcasing the artist's many influences musically, but one of the things that really stands out the most, for me, is the outstanding level of guitar work here.
The guitars on this record are amazing. It doesn't matter what style is being portrayed; the guitars always have such a key element in how the song moves forward, and comes across aesthetically.
Sometimes it's crisp, clean, and acoustic, while other times it's twangy, colorful, and electric.
The album is called Les Surfeurs De Santa Cruz, and it kicks off with the track called "Surf Spot Streamer Lane", which comes across as a blend between classic rock, folk rock, hints of that Americana shining through, and contemporary.
Most importantly, the artist always holds tightly onto that pop sensibility, and this track is placed tons of that.
For me, it feels almost like a long-lost Elvis Costello song. I definitely love this approach and the brightness that comes across as it's being performed. His vocals are really unique in the sense that he's got a bit of animation to how he sings, making that vocal approach memorable and unique.
"Old Surfer Of Santa Cruz" tells a great story, and with such great detail. It's not over the top but instead, very well balanced. It's still very descriptive, to the point where it paints a picture in your head as the song unfolds, which was outstanding.
This track felt more like a Neil Young type of vibe to me. I got caught up in this song and its story, and this is the track where you realize that Stephen is an absolute storyteller.
Again, you can tell there's a lot of different influences coming through. This is a record you listen to from start to finish, all in one shot; otherwise you won't catch on to everything. You won't get the full spectrum of what the album offers unless you listen to the entire thing.
"Twin Fin Dreams" is a pop-rock vibe, includes plenty of pianos that roll the song forward but a bopping rhythm that becomes quickly addicting. This was a really fun track, fully danceable, and vibrantly performed.
I think it's cool how certain songs can come through with a bit of a different emotion or cinematic backbone, while others are just in your face.
So, as you go through the record, you realize that this is actually a themed or concept album based on surfers. It's super fun to go into the record knowing this, which is the main reason I mentioned it, but some of the perspectives are third person, while others are first person. Some stories are told outside the box, while others are from a personal perspective.
It's really cool how he bounces back and forth between those aspects of storytelling and can articulate his lyrics with such an amazing approach that you really get caught up in it all.
This was an endlessly fun record that absolutely displays an artist who's really able to put something together that felt like it had some depth to it. Yes, it was fun; there were all kinds of folk and rock songs going on, but again, there's a kind of thing that was totally conceptualized and came to fruition.
I don't think that's an easy thing to do, but Stephen really pulled it off.
A lot of the vocals are reminiscent of live performance in the sense that they have energy that matches the mood the instruments are giving off.
Most of these songs have a unique way of putting you in the moment with them.
So, I would suggest you check this one out, info. Once again, the whole record is the best way to go, even though some of the songs I've mentioned already stand on their own two feet as singles incredibly well.
It's only about a half hour long, and it's more than worth that time.
Check out this record, and you'll see exactly what I mean. This is a great blend of approaches and an amazing sense of storytelling.
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Les Surfeurs De Santa Cruz - Album by Stephen Jacques | Spotify
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