An accomplished producer and session musician who's worked with the likes of Elvis Costello and Erykah Badu, Wilson musical talents truly shine on his sophomore album, Fanfare. Fanfare draws heavily on '70's influences, such as Pink Floyd, without feeling passé. In fact, Fanfare finds its successes in how current it truly feels while simultaneously sticking to the fundamentals of what made albums like Dark Side of the Moon so spectacular.
Wilson also impresses with the instrumental mastery he displays throughout the album. An accomplished musician that plays piano, keyboards, bass, guitar, and drums, Fanfare was described by Uncut as an audiophile's dream, with everything "cleanly miked up, deliciously recorded, [and] exquisitely mixed." As Wilson himself explains on his website, "Analog simply captures things better and it takes the edges off. It creates a beauty much like film."
Dangerous Minds has referred to Fanfare as an "epic novel" and I couldn't agree more. The length of the songs is a contributor to this feeling (the shortest track, "Love to Love," is a sturdy 4 minutes long). But Fanfare's tracks invoke such visceral emotions, that listeners are bound to feel as if they're riding shotgun with Wilson as he travels through his journey of love, life, and loss.
Fanfare has found itself wedged amongst my new favorite albums; one that will be played on repeat either to the delight or dismay of my friends. The only thing that makes this new artist find of mine even sweeter is that he'll playing at one of my favorite local venues, The Cat's Cradle, tomorrow night. It's exactly how I intend to celebrate the end of the snowpocalypse and I hope you'll join me to catch a truly talented local musician.
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