When Luke Beling sent me this album, I was immediately intrigued by the title alone. A stone in the mouth of the ocean seems very… folk. I wanted to hear more once I heard the first few tracks. The guitar work is impressive and the care taken toward the lyrical work is evident from the very opening. This album is clearly the product of hours and hours of painstaking curation before the selection of songs ever made it to us.
The opening title track is the audible exemplar of a crescendo. It begins with a light acoustic style and builds to an outright pop rock sound. It brings a welcome energy to introduce the listener to the rest of the album.
The harmonica on “Pearl in the Tide” sets a traditional folk mood for the track. Beling’s expressive vocal cuts through on this one nicely. The acoustic guitar provides a basis. There’s a group vocal in the background which makes it feel a bit more pop than a traditionally acoustic song. The lyrics focus on some distinctive confessions.
“Pain Like a River” has a relatable sensibility for anyone who has ever faced an injury. In his biography, Beling shares that he had two serious sports injuries that helped to define the songs on the album. This is one of the most direct connections to that literal, physical pain.
“The Blessed and the Damned” is the most interesting song on the album to me. I’ve written a good bit about the overlap between gospel influences and folk music over the years. There’s an evident gospel energy to this track and considering the theme in the title, it’s easy to hear why that creative decision was made. “I have seen the promised land…” The lyric about the “world made right” does seem like a sound theological reflection. I appreciate the composition style here which builds with meaningful layers. The production reflects the significance of the song’s lyrical theme.
The final track “To Never See the Light” has a poetic sense to it. The string work just feels different than the rest of the album. It’s got a tone and feel like it’s meant to shut down the venue for the night. The reflective and careful aspect from the vocal works well here. The piano and orchestral element takes it in a slightly different direction.
The album carries with it a sense of seriousness from top to bottom. A lot of the compositions would be interesting to hear as only acoustic without all of the extra production elements. That said, I appreciate Beling’s vision for the project. It defies some of the familiar tropes of folk music being made in the 21st century. It strikes me as an album that doesn’t have an easy time period to pin down. It feels like the synthesis of folk, gospel, and traditional music… all wrapped in a package that is thoroughly and uniquely Luke Beling’s art.
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