Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
That which we desire haunts us, then when we finally attain that which stole our waking dreams, we arguably allow it to control us, never to seek its counsel, only to divide our soul and brain into two different factions; one which concerns itself with managing the wonder, and that which wants more, that which demands an extension of the feeling, the rush, in which it first experienced the joy at hand.
Exploration is the key, to understand your Haunts & Wants but to not let them control you is the foundation of a truth we seem to miss from the off, and it takes a magical mind to be able to witness that and to take to the stage and exclaim to all that something must change; for the sake of our souls, we must allow the waters of imagination and the subtly of expression to flow.
Joseph Houck, a musician from the mountains that have sheltered and overlooked the town of Boone in North Carolina, is such an artist to whom the value of respecting one’s own hidden destructive needs is paramount, and he achieves this in magnificent fashion in the Bryan Ciliberto produced album Haunts & Needs.
The radical beauty that encompasses Pop, Soul, Folk, and the healthy proposition of Rock, is one that feels like the mountains themselves, rugged, timeless, to boldly attempt to conquer is to be fearless, but which themselves sing with the song of ancients and other voices with a tireless freedom.
The album is moody, fierce, giving, patient, demanding, and as tracks such as Next Best Thing, We’ve Never Met Before, Jetsam, I Will Never Forget, and the hold tight close to the chest love of Empathy shine through, so Joseph Houck, and guest musicians such as Betania Hernádez, Yona Marie, and Natalia Nazarova, as well as an inexhaustible contribution by Bryan Ciliberto, so the majesty of the world, the desires, the obsessions, whether driven by literature or the feelings of humanity, are inescapable and powerfully presented.
A terrifically balanced album, one that plays with different genres with a skill that is utterly beguiling and appreciated.
Ian D. Hall