Details
No matter the form, when it comes to art, there are a number of different tacks to take. Some artists continually push theirwork across new horizons. Others stand a bit more still in order to continually refine the capturing of their vision.Singer/songwriter Peter Bradley Adams falls into the latter category of perfectionists chasing their own perfection. WithAFace Like Mine, he may well have caught it.Theres a confidence, a completeness in the song cycle that listeners have gleaned throughout Adams illustrious career, butA Face Like Mine, his sixth solo effort, brings it all into sharp focus. Adams brand of Americana nestles his often delicate,always heartfelt voice in the warm embrace of gentle guitar, tasteful dobro, subtle banjo, supportivebass, and unhurriedpercussion. The result is a sonic scape that, in turn, wraps itself around the listener like a soft blanket on a cold day. WithAFace Like Mine, Adams further refines the simple musical sophistication that has become his trademark.Throughout the self-produced set, Adams tells tales of love and loss, homes and hearts. The territory he mines is a deliberatemix of fact and fantasy. I feel like Im, firstly, a storyteller, he offers, but its inevitable that my own stuff gets intheredeep. And its funny how, sometimes, I dont realize it until the song is done.Regardless of the details, theres always a philosophical bent that is often more under than on the surface, firmly groundingAdams songs even as they stretch outward. Byhis own admission, Adams is a seeker who spends considerable timewrestling with matters of faith, though hes the first to admit he doesnt have any real answers. I honestly dont know whatthe hell Im doing... nor do I have the language for any of thisstuff, he says with a laugh.That seekers heart is the tie that so often binds these songs together. Whether the search for place and purpose is of aspiritual or geographical nature, few writers capture the journey as thoughtfully as Adams. An Alabamanative, Adams sayshe feels most comfortable in motion and doesnt have a strong sense of being Southern, even though his music is rooted inthat world in so many ways. And though he sets various scenes with his lyrical imagery, Adams always leaves room for thelistener to crawl inside his stories and make them their own.A Face Like Mines songs were composed all over the world, from Alabama to India, and they dig into topics are disparateas the desperation of addiction (Lorraine), the grappling of self-image (Who Else Could I Be), the vitriol of politics(We Are), and the genetics of suffering (A Face Like Mine). We Are and Who Else Could I Be were originallywritten for a dance piece that Gina Patterson choreographed for the San Angelo Civic Ballet. Even so, Adams made sure thesongs could stand alone in their own world no matter what else was swirling around themconfidence and completenessin action.As a work of musical art,A Face Like Minefulfills the promise of Peter Bradley Adams.And rarely has an artists standingstill sounded so divine.
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