Review by Shannon Shumaker
I should start this off by saying that while I’m a sucker for acoustic and folk music, I’m picky when it comes to listening to new artists that I haven’t heard of yet. Over the years, I’ve come to realize that with a lot of acoustic, folk and solo acts, there’s really only so much that an artist can do to make themselves stand out from the pack or sound unique. That being said, I was more than pleasantly surprised when I decided to give David Rosales’ new EP Along The Way a listen.
To be honest, I was sold on this album from the very beginning of the first track. There are just some songs that are so good, so well-written and relaxing, that you can close your eyes and let the music transport you to a different place, and that’s exactly what happened upon my first time listening to “Too Young to Know Better.” And as if David’s vocals didn’t fit perfectly with the soft acoustic guitar in this song already, the added female vocals in the chorus are just the cherry on top. After “Too Young to Know Better,” the album takes a little bit more of an upbeat turn with the track “Slice Of Heaven” that almost makes you want to get up and dance along with it. One of the best, most heartfelt tracks on the album, though, is definitely “Amélie’s Song” written for Rosales’ daughter. The track has more of a country lullaby feel to it, but above that, it’s really the lyrics that stand out most about this song and it’s easy to get swept away by the first line of the song when David coos, “I will protect you from the world outside…”
The only downside with Along The Way comes toward the end of the album for me. Because while “Too Young To Know Better” has more of a mellow, folk feel to it, some of the later tracks on the album (mainly “Appleton” and “Crashing Down”) came along and made me wonder if I was still listening to the same artist. David’s vocals on these songs are much rougher and definitely deviate from the first few tracks on the album, but that being said, the songs themselves were still solid – just unexpected. Despite that one little bump, though, Along The Way is overall a very powerful, emotional and unique album, and is definitely worth the listen, especially for fans of artists such as Amos Lee and Brett Dennen. David Rosales has created a beautiful album, perfect for long drives through the mountains on cool summer evenings or sitting down and relaxing after a long day of work, and after listening to it, I’m even more excited to see where the road takes him.
Rating: 4/5
Listen to “Too Young To Know Better”