Nolen Sellwood – Cadence To The Flame
This is a surprise since the opener “State of Being” sounds admirably like the late Nick Drake. Sung in a mellow, laid-back yet intense poetic manner with gentleness as its strength. The acoustic guitar picking while not as inventive as Mr. Drake (yet) is nonetheless remarkably mature. It’s the same parallel sound Steely Dan shared with China Crisis.
There are 11 artistically rendered tunes on Cadence To The Flame (Drops June 7/New Folk Records/34:00) on this sophomore CD from the Minnesota-based Nolen Sellwood (guitar/vocals). Most songs are spare, but it makes them personal, warm & meditative as early Drake tunes were. Drake often recorded with a sole acoustic guitar before adding a few other musicians to his later albums.
Nolen possesses a crisp tonality in his guitar playing that’s so close to Drake on “Humid Rain” & “When The Moon Sang.” Lovely stuff. No singer today is doing the Drake approach. And that was a rural folky music that reached down into the soul. While Nolen also uses an effective falsetto that’s enhanced emotionally by the tender notes puffed out on a trumpet (“Banjo Song”) there’s a traditional sense to all this music. Mr. Sellwood has style well-applied to each delicate note. It invites comparison to Nick Drake consistently & that’s a compliment.
Good music doesn’t have to make the walls shake. What makes these small pieces special is that his music has personality. The addition of the slightness of the trumpet sets Nolen apart from Drake & any others since they didn’t use such support. The music on “Masque” even cruises along the rim of Mark-Almond’s jazzier quiet tunes with the cotton soft vocalizing of the late Jon Mark. Mark’s classical guitar coupled with Almond’s saxes was quite intense (“Everybody Needs a Friend” “Here Comes The Rain”).
There’s virtually nothing abrasive on this album. The beauty is in the melody, playing & voice. Very mannered, smooth & performed with an essence, that’s satisfying. This is a well-articulated album that’s well recorded & no, Nolen isn’t imitating Nick Drake because you can hear the Nolen nuances added to his original material. Even the late Johnny Burnette wasn’t trying to sound like Elvis – that was his voice.
Highlights – “State of Being,” “Forthcome,” “Humid Rain,” “Banjo Song,” “Masque,” “When The Moon Sang,” “Lavender” & “Cadence To the Flame.”
Musicians – John Wright (bass), Steven Lehto (guitar), Sam Hovda (trumpet), Owen Reinert Nash (percussion) & John Reinert Nash (sax).
Photography courtesy of Nolen’s website. Music samples of CD @ Amazon + https://nolensellwood.net/
