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Richard Youngs, "Summer Wanderer"
Solo vocal performances are a naked musical form by definition, but this Richard Youngs vinyl re-release (from a limited CD-R run in 2004) appears that little bit more exposed than most even without the need for conventional lyricism.
Commencing with the 20 minute "Summer's Edge," Youngs manages to instil his solo vocal performance with a contemporary feel, despite it being constructed from a single element. Despite its roots lying in the most traditional of all music forms, there is something about this piece that places it firmly in the now. His delivery of the words seems to encircle the mind, the track becoming more a meditative consciousness-loosening mantra than a narrative or insular state of the union. Youngs extends notes here and there, his delicate voice taking great care with the words he employs. It is this care with the words that makes the song's transformation into something beyond words such an unexpected alchemical process; it is the listening process, the personal involvement given to the record that charges this change. His voice is the same at the end of "Summer's Edge" as it was at its beginning but the consistent turns of phrase almost begin to lose their sense in the repetition: the words becoming more a subtly varying flow of sound rather than stream of words structured into a melody.
While it becomes more difficult to cling to onto the words—instead of literally going with the flow—the overall feeling of an idealistically magnificent loneliness (if such a thing can possibly exist) still remains. Richard Youngs vocal is fragile enough here to be rendered incapable of indulging in effusive sentimentality, even the touch of cold echo on "No Longer in this Perdition" can not harden the man. "Garden of Stones" is the most rooted piece here, encircling phrases painting a picture of the slow impending collapse of sky, earth, and nature. The images as strong as the melody this closer grounds the listener, easing the path back to words and music from something beyond.
The sense of vulnerability and intimacy is clear on these three pieces, despite the record not being an obviously personal affair. With the three tracks here feeling like a like period of grace where he lets us into his confidence, with his shields down Summer Wanderer is a taste of Youngs' interior world in its most melancholy moments.
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