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Avg: 4.0 (46 ratings)
- Date Released: September 4, 2007
- Genre: Country/Folk
- Style: Alternative, Contemporary Folk
- Label: Nettwerk Records
Pleasing tranquility? Nah, listen closer to this album of magical realism and you'll find so much more.
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We Say...
One of the hardest tricks for the modern male vocalist to pull off is to sing sweetly and get taken seriously. Concessions get made for women, and for the occasional Conor Oberst-like sensitive guy but, mostly, men are still expected to strut some stuff.
Ferraby Lionheart, a California-based singer-songwriter with a voice that recalls Elliott Smith and Harry Nilsson, never struts on his debut album, Catch the Brass Ring. Nevertheless, he deserves to be taken very seriously.
True, this album works a treat as background music. It is, without a doubt, pleasingly tranquil. "The Car Maker," for example, drifts around like a duck feather on a whisper of warm air. You could be forgiven for thinking you were hearing James Taylor singing in his sleep.
With Lionheart, however, paying closer attention delivers huge rewards. “We were on a bus in flames through lovers’ lane,” he sings in "Before We’re Dead." “My love was swallowed by a whale, we danced a waltz inside his tail,” he recalls in "A Bell and Tumble." This is magic realism set to music. If Jorge Luis Borges or Italo Calvino wrote pop songs, they’d probably be like this.
Lionheart’s melodies also improve with repeated listens; his phrasing can turn a honeyed sentiment into a heartache; the orchestral arrangements cradle his songs like a mother protecting her baby. If he never makes a better album than this then his contribution has already been more worthwhile than most box sets by most critically revered multi-platinum troubadours. But, hey, that’s just my opinion. -
They Say...
Singer/songwriter Ferraby Lionheart's debut album Catch the Brass Ring is an earthy and melodic collection of folky Baroque pop. Showcasing Lionheart's sweetly yearning vocals and quirkily imagistic lyrics, the album is a heartfelt mix of intimate piano and guitar driven pieces that often grow into larger moments punctuated by deft horn and string arrangements. In that sense, Lionheart will most surely draw favorable comparisons to such iconic '60s artists as the Beatles, Harry Nilsson and Brian Wilson. In truth, Lionheart's melodic pop most closely resembles the work of Elliott Smith and in that sense, fans of Smith should find much to enjoy here. Tracks such as "Small Planet" and "The Car Maker" are nothing short of minor and melancholy would-be classics in their own right and the similarly engaging "Under the Texas Sky" is a bittersweet lullaby that recalls the ghost of Townes Van Zandt. Interestingly, while Lionheart largely sticks to delicate pop he does mix things up with a bit of country twang and even some New Orleans street beat rhythms. While somewhat low-key and not as outwardly hip as the work by some of his more rock-oriented contemporaries, Lionheart's Catch the Brass Ring is nonetheless a sparkling little grower of an album.
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| 01. |  |
Un Ballo Della Luna |
1:45 |
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| 02. | |
Small Planet |
3:13 |
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| 03. | |
Vermont Avenue |
2:23 |
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| 04. | |
Call Me the Sea |
4:47 |
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| 05. | |
The Car Maker |
4:03 |
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| 06. | |
A Bell and Tumble |
4:16 |
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| 07. | |
Under the Texas Sky |
3:02 |
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| 08. | |
Youngest Frankenstein |
2:46 |
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| 09. | |
Before We're Dead |
3:54 |
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| 10. | |
The Octopus and the Ambulance |
4:04 |
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| 11. | |
Put Me in Your Play |
4:16 |
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11 Total Tracks, 38:29 Total Length
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Credits
- Dan Weinstein - Sousaphone // Jeff Lipton - Mastering // Dan Long - Engineer // Dan Long - Mixing // Jessica Thompson - Mastering Assistant // Benjamin Adamson - Trumpet // Raymond Richards - Pedal Steel // Raymond Richards - Glockenspiel // Raymond Richards - Engineer // Raymond Richards - Photography // Andrew Duncan - Trumpet // Jeanie Lim - Viola // Ferraby Lionheart - Guitar // Ferraby Lionheart - Percussion // Ferraby Lionheart - Piano // Ferraby Lionheart - Glockenspiel // Ferraby Lionheart - Vocals // Ferraby Lionheart - Melodica // Ferraby Lionheart - Producer // Ferraby Lionheart - String Arrangements // Ferraby Lionheart - Design
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