cal williams jr
Reviewed by: Chelsea Sinnott
Published: 23 December 2010
lp: all that i learned from the sea
Long time staple of the Adelaide live music scene Cal Williams Jnr has released an album, All That I Learned From The Sea. The upbeat, bluesy twang of opening track ‘Coal Town’ instantly separates this offering from the plethora of monotonous solo acoustic performers gracing sticky front bars around the country. That’s right, Cal Williams Jnr has released something interesting.
The album is aptly titled with the collection of songs culminating in a perfect soundtrack just made for that long summer’s drive to the coast. ‘New York Central’ has a real funky Hawaiian surf vibe before the album moves into a beautiful yet reflective track ‘Northern Line’ which features Dee Trewartha adding some haunting violin lines and the lovely Emily Davis whose vocal accompaniment add a wonderful depth to this track.
‘Geshe Le’ highlights Cal’s diversity and ability with some creative finger picking emanating in a Tommy Emmanuelesque style ditty with just a hint of country. The hint of country becomes a bit more evident on ‘Pallet on the Floor’ which is the weakest track on the album, while it has a nice groove it just stands out in its repetitiveness compared to the other tracks on this release.
‘In Perfect Light’ again features duets with Emily Davis. I’ve seen Cal and Emily play live a few times and it is always a fantastic performance, they have managed to capture the experience really well with this track. The album takes a bit of a turn with ‘Far Side of You’, the vocals are prominent in the track as it builds from a hushed serenade to a sonorous sing along before winding down again into a graceful finish.
‘Ghost of Banjo’ is a jovial, Celtic inspired piece that juxtaposes Cal’s guitar work with the violin to create a landscape of rollicking valleys and sun kissed mountains, before the album culminates in the all in collaborative of ‘Lay My Burden Down’.
There is a lot more to this album than one would usually anticipate from a solo acoustic artist. Cal Williams Jnr has done a wonderful job in getting the best from some top local artists, but more importantly, himself. The huge diversity that Cal offers up both with the range of his voice and the musicianship in his playing is a testament to his ability as an artist. This is, quite simply, a great album.
