Review: Andrew Campbell

Andrew Campbell - This is What the City Will Sound Like When All the People are Gone (Independent)
New Yorker Andrew Campbell is an 18 year old student who sings, writes and plays everything on his debut EP “This is What the City Will Sound Like When All the People are Gone”. He doesn’t sound like he’s 18; perhaps he’s been a dedicated cigar smoker since kindergarten, or maybe puberty hit extra hard – I don’t know. He doesn’t write like a teenager, either. There is a naivety to some of his words, but it’s more than tempered by an understanding of their context. He writes a decent tune, too, arranging them in ways that sometimes bring to mind Bon Iver and Sufjan Stevens, and at other times they almost hark back to the glory days of the Brill Building writers.

The five tracks on “This is What the City…” should really be listened to as a whole. The songs are complimented by their surroundings, and there’s a natural flow to the tracks. Beginning with the playful “Feather”, it’s followed by the sophisticated pop tones of “You Can Count On It” and the Liam Dulligan-esque “Rum & Radio”. It’s relatively short at a shade less than 19 minutes, but as with all the best EPs, it’s essentially an appetizer and you’re definitely left wanting more, to satisfy a hunger you weren’t even aware of 20 minutes earlier.
http://www.facebook.com/AndrewCampbellTunes?sk=app_204974879526524
Rob F.