{"id":26177,"date":"2023-10-08T05:30:49","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T09:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=26177"},"modified":"2023-10-06T15:34:16","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T19:34:16","slug":"ep-review-bill-godfrey-hypnotized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/10\/08\/ep-review-bill-godfrey-hypnotized\/","title":{"rendered":"EP Review: Bill Godfrey &#8212; Hypnotized"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-26178\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bill_godfrey_hypnotized.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"352\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bill_godfrey_hypnotized.jpg 350w, http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bill_godfrey_hypnotized-298x300.jpg 298w, http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/bill_godfrey_hypnotized-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/>Out of Austin comes Bill Godfrey. His debut EP is <i>Hypnotized<\/i>, an intimate and personal five-song set of original songs.<\/p>\n<p>As the opening (title) track begins, the listener might assume that what\u2019s in store is a voice-and-acoustic-guitar number. An appealing one no doubt, but spare in the extreme. But Godfrey has other, more interesting, things in mind. Some lovely and wonderfully evocative strings enter the arrangement within the first minute. Behind Godfrey\u2019s expressive and breathy vocals, a full band arrangement commences around the one-minute mark. The backing &#8211; bass, woodblock drumming \u2013 is subtle, understand and in keeping with the vocal- forward approach of Godfrey\u2019s song. Tinkling piano and deeply expressive cellos dart in and out the the sonic landscape and the arrangement opens up even more, revealing a dramatic and wholly unexpected sonic landscape.<\/p>\n<p>And then it all stops. The song wraps up as it began, with Godfrey\u2019s plaintive vocal and that crystalline acoustic guitar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSprightly Gentleman\u201d opens with an Americana feel, and once again Godfrey takes the song other places. The arrangement opens up to a kind of field-holler vibe, then segues seamlessly into a warm and funky feel. Then it gets vaguely New Orleans jazzy. Godfrey\u2019s choices of instrumentation are clearly based on the needs of each song, not limited by a traditional rock band format. And his wry lyrics are personal and accessible at once.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPerfect Place\u201d employs a similar approach: open simply and build from there; this formula \u2013 and it\u2019s a solid one \u2013 seems to suit Godfrey\u2019s songwriting. \u201cPerfect Place\u201d builds a bit slower than the other tracks, but its soulful, warm feel draws the listener in from the first moments. The metallic resonance of his acoustic guitar \u2013 he uses it as a percussion instrument \u2013 is an inspired sonic choice.<\/p>\n<p>Banjo introduces \u201cMama Help Me,\u201d but a clattering, squelchy trip hop ambiance provides the song\u2019s primary character. That device is switched on and off as the song proceeds, reminiscence of the kind of thing Radiohead might do. Some fascinating vocal crosstalk swirls in and out of the arrangement; \u201cMama Help Me\u201d is easily the most complex and multilayered cut on the EP.<\/p>\n<p><i>H<\/i><i>ypnotized<\/i> wraps up with \u201cPatiently,\u201d a kind of melodic rethink of Tom Waits\u2019 style, with some gospelish backing vocals, plucked instruments and a lusciously lumbering beat punctuated with sounds of thunder. It\u2019s an alluring number filled with wonderment, and a lovely way to close a rewarding listening experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Out of Austin comes Bill Godfrey. His debut EP is Hypnotized, an intimate and personal five-song set of original songs. As the opening (title) track begins, the listener might assume [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26178,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,49,65],"tags":[5252],"class_list":["post-26177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indie","category-new-release","category-review","tag-bill-godfrey","cat-39-id","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26177"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26179,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26177\/revisions\/26179"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}