December Friend - No Fadeouts (self-released)

It always pays to send out teasers and test the musical waters ahead of a new album, and December Friend has done precisely that prior to their new one _In A Warmer Way.” But, of course, a single isn’t just an advertisement for what’s to come, and “No Fadeouts” is a gorgeous song in its own right.

December Friend is a collaboration between singer-songwriter Joel Leviton, John Wlaysewski, of Late Cambrian and keyboardist Jeff Victor…all the J’s… and was born as a file-sharing project during lockdown. And if the debut album, Splendor Never Dies proved to be a brilliantly astute collection of songs, “No Fadeouts” suggests that the new one will follow a similar path.

Leviton understands the notion of the slow-burner, and here the song rises out of a very traditional singer-songwriter form to be gradually bathed in additional sonics—shimmering piano runs, picked guitars, the swell of the Hammond organ, additional vocal harmonies—all adding weight and wonder as the song heads into more gently anthemic realms, hitting the perfect sweet spot between the solo troubadour and the intricate band sound.

And as great as that is—believe me—for me, it is Leviton’s ear for the perfect lyric and his ability to paint such great pictures with them, scenes and scenarios that are at a turn wry and witty, nostalgic and reflective, real and relatable—that is the absolute icing on the cake.

Yes, advanced singles sent out ahead of an album are much more than just a signpost to what’s to follow. And, if you listen to this song a few times (I can’t imagine anyone just playing this once), there is no way that you will not be checking out In a Warmer Way as soon as is humanly possible.

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