Darren Black
Playing With The Truth
8/10

By Decibel Report - Sep 8, 2020


As a post-modern bard of folk song, Black nails sharp social observations about these ever-changing times as this rotating globe’s surreal reality seems to have recently spun off its axis. Opener Shadows Leave resonates with this theme as Black’s characteristic voice quivers like a leaf gripping onto an unstable branch itself unsure of its rooted existence.

Intense drama is artfully built up to fever pitch on Social Cemetary, Historical Amnesia and We Might Drown by an artist who controls tension like a musical Hitchcock looming over a developing body of pearlescent work.

At the heart of this rustic and cool cosseted folk is Black’s deft prose posturing questions on the vagaries of life, the universe and nearly everything sociological under the sun. These deeply considered compositions pulse and glow with sublime musicianship delivered with passion and no little poise.

If life can be as rough as roads seemingly leading to nowhere, folk music as good as this swells the heart to fill the void.