Regular Columnists

Artist: Jake Melnyk
Album: “Speckled Horizon”
CD Review: “Speckled Horizon” is a refreshingly sincere release of gentle songs.

Melnyk shows a lot of potential in this sparsely arranged collection of seven songs. He displays a good grasp of melody and rhythm. He arranges the guitar and vocal base of the sogns with some subtle percussion, piano and backing vocals here and there and it’s a good choice. He has a very good ear for arrangements.

“Unclear Forward Movement” is my favorite song. Its still got a low-fi gentle arrangement but it has a very catchy groove. “I Know it Will Be” is also one of the sweetest Christmas songs I’ve heard in a long time. His lyrics often refer to Christian images and ideas in many of the songs.

Jake’s voice is gently off kilter. It reminds me a bit of the singer for the Violent Femmes or Red House Painters. I think it works well with though with the subtle arrangements and the topics that are direct from the heart.

http://jmelnyk.iwarp.com