Adam james Sorenson "Midwest"

City Creek Records, 2012

Defiantly mellow with hints of Taylor and Gates, but from Chicago

• Adam James Sorenson has been an itinerant musician for many years plying his trade with artists as diverse as The Blood Oranges , Melvin Sparks and Nostalgia 77 amongst others but this is his first solo effort enabled by his return home to Chicago.

• This is a beautifully packaged and produced album full of big warm sounds. The guitar is almost exclusively acoustic and has been recorded as a deep well of supple textures gently plucked or strummed. The vocals are first and centre and Sorenson’s voice is certainly up to the attention. A hushed and clarion clear sound with definite nods to James Taylor in its intonation especially in ‘Chicago River’ they hold the album together and give it a sense of whole.

  Every track is diligently constructed and coloured with dashes of strings ‘Winter Song’, ‘Midwest’ , hints of National guitar ‘People Start Fires’ , ‘Midwest’, mandolin on ‘Stranger’ and cello and double bass lifting ‘Shadows in the Snow’ above the ordinary. However there is a problem. This is a sumptuous feast of mellow reflection and eventually the pedestrian pace and deeply laid back vibe starts to let the songs seep into each other. They become all of a whole. A very pleasant whole but ultimately one that fails to engage on more than a couple of levels. It is beautiful but it feels only skin deep – perhaps over produced or too much contentment