Review
Gregory Alan Isakov's "This Empty Northern Hemisphere" emerges as a veritable tapestry of melancholic tunes and introspective verse, woven with a finesse reminiscent of the delicate interplay of light and shadow in a Caravaggio painting. Within its bounds, Isakov's voice serves as a gentle guide through a landscape rich in poetic contour and subtle auditory shading. Notably, the album achieves a masterful balance in its mix, allowing the raw crystalline quality of Isakov’s vocal delivery to pierce through the minimalist instrumentation like rays of sunlight breaking through an overcast sky.
The album commences with the ethereal strains of "Dandelion Wine," a track that evokes the ephemeral beauty of a moment caught in time, perhaps mirroring the reflective poise of a solitary figure in a Hopper painting. The theme of fleeting beauty and a yearning for the intangible is a golden thread that runs through subsequent tracks. Songs like "Light Year" and "That Moon Song" craft vivid lyrical landscapes, transporting the listener to a realm where each note seems to paint a different shade of longing or contemplation. In "Big Black Car" and "Master & A Hound," one finds a deeper, more introspective dive into the human psyche, akin to the introspective exploration found in the lines of a Frost poem. Overall, "This Empty Northern Hemisphere" is not merely an auditory experience but a profound journey through the crevices of memory and emotion, sure to resonate deeply with connoisseurs of layered, thoughtful music. - Kate
