Inspired by whiskey releases from Redwood Empire and influences like JJ Cale, Joni Mitchell, and Sam Beam, Grounded is a captivating debut album from Displaced Stranger. The Lynden, WA-based artist Don Sullivan functions as a one-man powerhouse, weaving ghostly folk and soulful vocal work into a deeply resonant self-produced journey. “I basically began writing songs inspired by names of whiskey releases from Redwood Empire, a distillery in Northern California,” Sullivan says. “After working with Corallo Records at Groover, I finished a full album worth of music.”
The album is abundant in quality songwriting. Early on, “Lost Monarch” consumes with an initial ghostly folk character, leading with soft acoustic strums and playful bass as introspective vocals move forth cohesively. Tender electric guitar twangs emerge as the lush vocals continue to absorb, with lyrical references to anticipation and survival cementing a sense of continued self-discovery. Ensuing track “Golden Hour” is another stunner, featuring hypnotic guitars, sturdy acoustics, mellow keys as caressing vocals exude hope in singing “I could feel this love I never had” in conveying a smitten, blissful state into glistening, layered guitar intertwining at the two-minute mark — an especially beautiful moment on a replay-inducer of a track.
The highlights continue throughout. “The River Knows My Name” achieves a more understated folk character, maintaining a subdued vocal feeling that’s matched by solemn guitar jangles, uplifted by twangy adornments and a warm piano infusion across the second half. “Beautiful Dreamer” excels within a similar soundscape, as plucky guitars combine with soulful vocals with enjoyable shades of Daryl Hall. The album compels lyrically as well throughout, shown particularly well within “Cottage by the Sea,” where yearning for a place of comfort, physical and mental, pairs with emphasizing the importance of another by your side — proclaiming “the spark of your laugh in the morning light” as something that enjoyably impacts. Grounded is a heartfelt, stirring success of an album from Displaced Stranger.
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“Golden Hour” and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
