Wolfe Acton is billed as a genre-blurring Southern neo-beatnik troubadour but although his music is solid and slick it is also very predictable. Genres are neither blurred nor broken.
As with 2021 debut LP, Kings for Sale, I can’t shake the feeling that his new mini-album is just a pastiche of a Tom Waits record.
It aspires to emotional rawness but is so mannered that it sounds like an exercise in style rather than an attempt to tap into genuine feelings.
It opens with the Memphis soul/Motown influenced Cry which features vocal harmonies from Melanie Dewey (Mello), and Regina McCrary of the McCrary Sisters, daughters of Baptist preacher, Reverend Samuel H. McCrary, a founding member of The Fairfield Four. Afton says it's the most emotional song he’s ever written but growled advice to “open up your heart” sounds clichéd rather than heartfelt.
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Afton wears his Mississippi roots on his sleeve and his backing band are clearly accomplished players but none of the five tracks stay in the head or touch the soul.
Soundcloud link to Twenty Three
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