| Print |

Written by Laura Hamlett Sunday, 26 February 2006 08:53

“Everyone wants to change, but no one wants to do the work because it’s painful./We avoid saying things that are hard to say, but those are exactly the things that would lighten our load—if only we’d say them.”

Peter Walker’s been ruminating on this fundamental conundrum of the human condition. It surfaces vividly on the song “Talk to You,” from his new album, Young Gravity (due April 11, 2006, on Dangerbird Records). The earthy, gently propulsive track bears the slide-laced refrain, “If this wasn’t so easy, maybe I’d talk to you.”

Young Gravity has a ramshackle, lived-in charm, an unstudied authenticity. Walker notes that much of what he recorded on his own as demos made its way to the final version of the record, including the vocal for “39 Stars.” What you hear is him singing the song for the first time. The performance bears an immediacy that was impossible to recapture in the studio.

Links:
Official site | MySpace