A decade after its original release, Bruce Soord’s debut album returns in a newly remastered edition, the album ‘Bruce Soord’ is set to release May 30 th . Soord revisits themes of memory and identity, offering a fresh lens to experience his immersive and introspective songwriting.
The opening track, “Black Smoke”, begins with a melancholic and peaceful piano before it is accompanied by Soord’s vocals. Soord reminisces on his hometown as he sings of memories of the place he grew up. This track was cleverly placed at the beginning of the album, as it sets the mood for the album as he continues his journey of memory and self- discovery. Soord showcases his talent for songwriting in this song as he vividly narrates his memories. He sings “the places we laid, shimmer of sound”. I thought that this line was beautifully written as it explores nostalgia, not solely on visual memories, but ones that can be identified through familiar sounds.
“Buried Here”, excellently blends acoustic guitar with subtle percussion. The instruments on this track complement Soord’s voice quite well. He sings about nostalgia as he sings, “don’t let them tell you time was wasted…I wish we wasted more”. This line was quite powerful in the sense that it explores the notion often pushed within society that time can be wasted on passion and things that are not classified as productive, whereas when Soord looks back on these memories, he wishes that he spent more time “wasting time”. As he revisits this album, I wonder if he has taken this on board over the past decade. Soord allows us to enter his memories and his perspectives on these memories on this track, I think that this aided the entirety of the album as it allowed listeners to understand and relate to Soord.
“The Odds” is an upbeat track that was refreshing after the quite melancholic and slow first two songs. This track is fun and uplifting with a catchy melody line; the instrumental section in this tune is also pleasing to listen to.
The imagery he uses in “A Thousand Daggers” to describe the rain is excellent and beautifully written; he symbolizes the daggers to represent rain. His vocals and the brass accompaniment add a melancholic feel to the song.
I enjoyed the use of brass instruments in “A Willow Tree”, and I appreciate Soord’s experimentation with instruments in his music, as it gives his songs a more cinematic feel. He sings about the willow tree and how much it means to him, he sings “it’s survives, and remains through the wind and the rain”, I thought that this line really stood out as it shows how some things are consistent and although a lot of things can change and our memories can sometimes be hazy, this willow tree for him has stayed consistent, perhaps it symbolises something important to Soord or this willow tree is significant to the artist in some way. Regardless this line was excellently crafted.
“Born In Delusion” is rhythmically engaging, he sings in a minor key which creates a somber atmosphere that is pleasant considering the themes is singing about. He sings about the differences in people’s upbringings, and I thought that lyrically this was executed quite well.
“Field Day (Part One)”, this song showcases Soord’s vocals and his storytelling abilities. This is what makes this album so enjoyable, as he can portray his own narrative and memories through his songs. The track begins on a calm tone and gradually builds in intensity. I would argue that this track is probably the best on the album, from
the main vocals, accompaniment, and backing vocals. They all blend incredibly well together to create a
warm and moving tune. The dynamics shift quite abruptly through the track; however I thought that this was impactful as it created diversity to the tune. Soord excellently creates a moment in this song which helps his listeners to visualise what is happening in the tune. As he sings “run like hell” the tempo picks up, perpetuating the idea that he is running and creates suspense which was effective and executed quite well. This track transitions rather seamlessly into “Field day part two”, this song contains similar musicality as part one, it’s a continuation, or rather a response to part one, which I thought was clever and really ties the album together.
“Familiar patterns” begins slowly and maintains this tempo for the rest of the track. This tune explores the passage of time and finding comfort in routine. The electric guitar riff on this track was impressive and added to the song, although it was simple, it placed focus on the lyrics and the message Soord was attempting to convey.
“Leaves leave me” is the last track on the album, it contains similarities to the rest of the tracks on the album, although elements of this track differ, making it an excellent closing track to the album. Soord adds sounds of background noises of people talking and children playing which I thought was quite effective and aided in my visualisation of the track. The added vocals on this track were powerful and added intense emotion to this song, I also thought that the title and positioning of this song was clever, as it created a nice sense of closure to the album.
This album explores memory and identity, which makes it a perfect album to revisit a decade later, with new memories and new aspects of identity. The calming and peaceful vibe of this album makes for an excellent experience to reminisce on your own memories and past. This album created a compelling and immersive listening experience; therefore.
I would rate this album a 7 out of 10.
Reviewer – Katie Monks @K4tie7