As the album’s title suggests, Jonny Velón’s debut album, ‘Goodness Flows’, is largely an upbeat, feelgood album, brimming with positivity. As songs like ‘I Am Always Me’ attest, Jonny is big on self-affirmation and acceptance. But it’s also an album which explores deep sadness and a broad range of emotions, and herein lies its greatest strsngth.
The album’s first song, ‘White Rabbit’, is one of those tracks that’s everything all at once: croony lounge, uptempo jazz, laid-back adult pop, and delivered with a certain cheeky confidence. By rights, it should be parked on the shelf marked ‘smug, chirpy, muso guff,’ but Velón has a certain way of delivering his material, which is articulately penned neatly and intelligently crafted, and presents a broad enough range of moods and styles to exist outside the ‘irritant’ column.
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At times reminiscent of Roxy Music, and at others David Bowie and Steve Winwood, Velón demonstrates a remarkable diversity. ‘Overwhelming Stillness’ and ‘Heart & Mind’ step away from the domain of popular and classic rock / pop references to explore more theatrical territories. Velón certainly has a degree of progginess about his compositional style, and there’s an overbearing sense of ‘art’ informing what is, without doubt, a varied, inventive, album rammed with emotional triggers and a genuine depth.
Jonny Velón Online
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