A wavering voice, storytelling that is hard to match, and a great talent for guitar all add up to a wonderful album. You can still hear the Mediterranean influences Steven grew up with and the very next song will surprise you with gospel influences. His first solo, Me Died Blue, is great as well.
I can't believe he doesn't have a bigger fan base. I saw him a small venue in Nashville several months ago and it's one of the best concerts I've ever been too. He had a choir and full band which is quite unusual for a folk artist. He reminds me of Bruce Springsteen, Cat Stevens, and Paul Simon rolled up into one crazy Greek expierence.
If you like this, you are gonna like Josh Garrels and Jeremy Casella too. Check them out!
Steven Delopoulos is a good guitar player. His voice doesn't need studio manipulation because it's honest and sounds great the way it is. Most importantly, Steven Delopoulos is an excellent song writer. Maybe it isn't cool to write songs which have meaning anymore. Or, perhaps subjective meaning is today's fashion. So, I find it refreshing to listen to Delopoulos' music telling a story of his discoveries. The lyrics are abstract, but the meanings aren't. The most true and kind thing I can say about Straightjacket is from a song writer's perspective: I wish I had written these songs.
Steven Delopoulos is the real deal - a fantastic artist, poet, guitar player and singer-songwriter. A great blend of Cat Stevens, Paul Simon, Harry Chapin and Billy Joel. While I heartily give this album 5 of 5 stars, I love his first solo disc "Me Died Blue" even better, so check it out too, whether it is here or on iTunes.
