It would be easy to spend a lifetime on YouTube finding videos of teenagers-with-guitars, all vying for our attention with their cover versions. It's even easier to make quick judgements about them and assume that they are all cut from the same cloth: more often than not it seems that their persistence and ego is larger than their talent.
Trawling through the Twitter and Tumblr feeds of YouTuber Lorenzo Cook - aka Spark Alaska - you may well assume that he fits the mould of his peers. But whilst his covers are mostly average, it's his original material that deserves considerably more attention.
Made available for free on BandCamp, 'Feel The Flowers' is his most recent offering and certainly his most impressive. With the steady strumming and picking of guitar, glorious vocal harmonies, and tuneful whistles, the first minute comes astonishingly close to harnessing Simon & Garfunkel - and in the best possible way. The song soon spreads its wings a little wider with a defiant chorus that doesn't let itself be entirely restrained by Lorenzo's youth, and the lyrics somehow manage to avoid ever sounding contrived despite the flurry of imagery.
In a just world, 'Feel The Flowers' would be the start of a journey for Spark Alaska; signifying the moment when creativity overtook imitation and success bloomed as a result. Whether Lorenzo is searching for a career in music or not, this newest tune suggests that he has a better chance than many, and it is hoped that he continues to explore his own artistic abilities more regularly for our enjoyment.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SparkAlaska
Bandcamp: sparkalaska.bandcamp.com
Tumblr: idrownideas.tumblr.com
Twitter: twitter.com/sparkalaska
"Ruling piano keys is harder than ruling a whole kingdom" - Yazan Haddadin
No comments:
Post a Comment