There has been a massive increase in the number of artists who make music to communicate something urgent or essential about life. Most are happy to repeatedly and unsubtly hit us over the head with lyrics empowering us or helping us to see the light, guiding us along a better path, bringing us closer to spiritual enlightenment, aiming to coach us or lead us or reveal some hidden truth that they have just read in a copy of The Upanishads, or whatever ancient text is the flavor of the month. As a musician myself for most of my adult life, you can trust me when I say that musicians are generally the last people you need to give you advice about living a more fulfilling life.
I say this to underline what is so great about The Escapist, the new album from David Harland. Here, he has a more honest goal to create a collection of “spacious, intimate, meditative guitar compositions that could help transport the listener to another place, escape the day-to-day stressors, and bring in some peace and calm.” And that is precisely what he has achieved here.
To this end, this is less a collection of songs and more a suite of music to relax to, think to, meditate to, and use as a focus to just take some time out, unwind, recharge, and head back to the fray – in whatever form your day-to-day, nine-to-five, rat racing fray may take.
These intricate, dexterous, and melodically mellifluous instrumental pieces are based almost solo around his deft guitar picking, with occasional inclusions of additional guitar, cello, bass, beats, and harp—inclusions but not intrusions.
Because of its simple goal—to merely create space for you in this fast-paced world—it succeeds where other, more ornate, and perhaps pretentious projects fail. In these simple but seductive tracks, you see honesty and integrity, a person looking to help rather than demonstrate how clever they are.
Gorgeous music with no agenda beyond improving your day. It doesn’t get better than that, does it?
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