“But now I’m shrinking the world to fill my shoe / Assuming the fear in me is like the fear in you,” Julian Cartwright sings on his latest album, Paper Light, which he put out last Friday, one of a dozen or so in so many years. Paper Light is a little play on words it seems, meaning something as light as a sheet of paper, but also the light and insight that comes from putting pen to pad. He has a way of turning a phrase that helps us deal with life’s trials, waits, frustrations, with wonder and new resolve.
“It’s neither here nor there where I am / I’m just right in between / Lined up in the queue for delight / Like it’s a show I’ve never seen.” While there is a familiarity to Julian’s vocal tenor that runs throughout his albums, (as with most artists,) his music and his words are always like a show you’ve never seen, and pay dividends on digging in.
“2020: That’s the year I forgot to call you,” he sings in the title track and centerpiece of the album (one of my favorites on the album). A sentiment many of us can relate to. But sings later: “You wanna call me first? You know this town is cursed. / Heaven is you and me.” He adds his bit of heaven to the universe, for anyone who’s listening, and remains faithful with his hand to the plow, or pen, as the case may be.
Probably the most satisfying musical composition comes in the xylophone-laden “Wait So Long.” But the saxophone on the opening track and second to last track (by Mike Eipper) is a wonderful addition to his mostly self-played and produced record. He’s a hidden treasure and continues putting out compelling music under his own name. If you like Mark Knopfler’s talk rock or Talking Heads’ witty lyricism (though I think Julian is better), this might be a new favorite band to watch.
Prism Reviews 