Wild Rice is the new album by Leon Frear who is currently based in Chicago, after moving there from Chapel North Carolina while in need of safe harbour and a more sober reality. The album is almost totally a solo project as Leon plays all the instruments and sings all the vocals except the backing vocals on Murder Of Crows that are provided by Faye Whitt. The album was recorded at Leons home studio and mastered by Adam Boose at Cauliflower studios.
The album opens with the dramatic drum intro of Town Called Chapel that has delicate guitars situated within the drum theatrics, before Leon's grizzled vocals start to weave a tale, for someone whose searching for a little redemption, trying to figure out how they ended up in the situation they are in, as finally they find their saviour in A Town Called Chapel.
A Morning House has whispered wispy vocals that have decided they bought said house in the fog, with a stop start arrangement around a supple bassline, as Leon wonders just how good or bad a decision it was to buy the house in question.
She Fed Me Water takes a low-slung guitar part, as the base for this tale of an invite for the down at heart to let a little bit of love back into their lives, finding a way out of the malaise towards a brighter more love filled future, will they find love among the ruins of lives gone astray.
A Morning Waltz is a slow meandering waltz through the pitfalls of an edgy existence, where Morning comes but it may as well still be the middle of the night, as he tries to evade the woman with the contract he claims to have already signed.
Secret Second Moon feels quite widescreen in the way it looks at the situation he's in, as he marches towards the best place to see that Secret Second Moon from.
A Harvestman has been tilling the darkest fields imaginable, hoping to reap what he sows and then some, as his customers line-up they need to look out as a killer on the loose, the organ part sounds like a cool Jimmy Smith lift.
A Murder Of Crows is a southern gothic tale set amongst detailed guitar parts doing oddly affecting things, as the storm still rages around Leon.
Foie Gras has Leon repeatedly telling us he's going to force it down, in the same way that the delicacy is manufactured in the cruellest of ways, let all who want to eat Foie Gras be force fed something as damaging to them too, this has a good animal rights guitar solo.
Sweet Dreams Say Goodbye the nightmares have begun, you can no longer take love songs seriously as all that's left is hatred and despair, the world has dissolved into rancour among the slow ambient chilled music that threatens to go insane at the drop of a hat.
The album closes with Drowning Horses that may be an OD metaphor for the moment when you hit rock bottom, as you try to deny your cravings, parting from the biggest magnet for all the sorrow in your life, as you wish to build a brighter future for yourself, this is a super gentle fond farewell, do you dare have one last hit of that damaging fuel, the love and lust that has fuelled your life.
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