January 26 2024
A seasoned singer/songwriter with seven previous albums to his credit, Jeff Talmadge has more or less remained below the radar as far as a reaching that wider audience he so decidedly deserves. That status is certainly undeserved, especially given the fact that his songs express a poignancy and passion that only the most skilled artists are ever capable of conveying.
That ability is especially evident on Talmadge’s highly anticipated new album, Sparrow, his first offering in more than a decade. Being a multi-talented artist and individual — he also had a career as a civil trial attorney and was honored with the Academy of American Poets Award from Duke University — he creates a series of vivid soundscapes that are as affecting as they are evocative. There are any number of examples, from the ominous overtones of the opening track, “Hurricane” and the dark, dramatic and haunting narrative illuminating “Night Train From Milan,” to the touching and tender tones of “If I Was a Sparrow,” the emotive and evocative “Maybe Next Year” and the sweetly sentimental “Katie’s Got a Locket.” Talmadge has a way of taking any number of simple scenarios and turning each into cause for reminiscing and reflection. He’s even able to do so as a kind of wordless wonder, as with the closing track, “Top of the Hour,” an instrumental cowritten with Austin singer/songwriter Bradley Kopp.
Nevertheless, it’s the scenes and scenarios interspersed throughout that testify to Talmadge’s skill and savvy. The jaunty “Little Speck of Dust” becomes a philosophical treatise that elevates life itself into a higher perspective. In a similar sense, “The Sound of Falling Snow” uses idyllic imagery and a pastoral impression as metaphors for embracing a comfort and caress.
“Remember everything you saw, the things you heard that you recall, like the little towns and the sound of falling snow.”
It takes a poet to truly capture the assurance and serenity embossed within each of these effortlessly engaging melodies. It’s hardly surprising then that this particular Sparrow literally seems to soar.
Lee Zimmerman- is a freelance music writer whose articles have appeared in several leading music industry publications. A former promotions representative for ABC and Capitol Records and director of communications for various CBS-affiliated television stations, he lives in Maryville, Tennessee.
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