Happy Enough Song is the first track on Doug Prescott’s latest, “The Journey & The Deep Blue Sea”. This track blends equal part seventies rock, Americana, and even country.
This cross-over track even has time to include brass in its 2:36 runtime. Happy Enough Song is a microcosm of the styles and sounds broached during the entirety of this disc. Hideaway slows things up, linking together The Bellamy Brothers, Kansas, and Warren Zevon in a retro-infused but entirely contemporary effort. While Prescott’s vocals remain the centerpiece of the album, I feel that the instrumental interlude here is without comparison. Silence Speaks Volumes is another sea change for Prescott, with a reggae, funk, and ska sound immediately hitting listeners. The cherry on top of this sundae has to be the steel drums, which act as a perfect counterpoint to Prescott’s vocals. Every time that a listener puts on Silence Speaks Volumes, they will hear a different side to Prescott – a few spins of this cut yields hints of Frank Zappa and The Doors. The disc’s final track, Little Elvis & Fat Cat Eddie, is a frenetically-paced ball of energy that leads listeners into a frenzy. The horns heard at the beginning of the album add a nice punctuation to the ending.
The Journey &The Deep Blue Sea is one of the most eclectic titles that we have reviewed this year. Where albums that are this innovative typically have a diffuse (or an outright lack of) focus, I find that these 10 tracks are able to build a cohesive entity. Make sure to pick up a copy of Prescott’s album from his website and see him live whenever he comes to your town.
Top Tracks: Happy Enough Song, Let’s Get Wide Open
Rating: 8.5/10
Doug Prescott – The Journey &The Deep Blue Sea (CD) / 2012 Self / 10 Tracks / http://www.dougprescott.com/
John Sargeant, writing on NeuFutur as Sargeant, is the founder and editor-in-chief of NeuFutur Magazine, where he has covered independent music, PC hardware, consumer tech, and gaming culture since 1998. With over 25 years of continuous digital publishing experience, he has written thousands of hands-on game and record reviews, conducted in-depth hardware field testing, and analyzed digital media monetization trends. His work prioritizes first-hand evaluation and long-term product testing.
Beats: Independent Music, PC Gaming & Peripherals, Consumer Tech, Webmaster Tools
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