Review: Steve Stout - pink bathroom (Allswell) [Folktronica]
Living the dream in Nashville, Steve Stout is a busy boy and generally not one for relying on others, preferring to do it all himself. As well as being a multi-instrumentalist, lyricist, composer, singer and producer, he also runs a mate's studio, has just set up his own, excellently named, Shabby Road studio and co-owns the fledgling Allswell label - the home for his three full albums in the last five years, as well as the recent Lifehouse album, a group he also helps out as a band member, amongst others. Some people just make you question if you shouldn't be fitting a bit more into your life.
His latest album - I Wanna Buy a Beach House - has just dropped, and unusually, he's called up some notable names to help with the writing and to christen Shabby Road, including Hiss Golden Messenger and Blondfire. If you like occasionally-stoned, twentieth-century-infused indie-pop-rocking folk, and even though it's not a sound that I focus on - there are only so many hours in the day, I skipped through and soaked up some of the tracks, and if you like that sort of thing, you'll be vibing; there's an obvious quality and a cool, freewheeling vibe.
My focus for the purpose of this review, although I feel vaguely guilty ignoring the rest of the LP, is the excellent Pink Bathroom cut, a sweet slice of late-night or Sunday morning suitable folktronica, whose 'tronica' elements are not initially apparent, but creep up on you like that questionable third beer.
Stout is in a quiet, reflective mood, and somewhat oddly inspired by the original fifty- year-old pink bathroom he and his wife inherited when buying their first house. Apparently, it's got the best vibe ever and is something of a sanctuary, so it deserved an ode one Monday morning when he had start-of-week motivational issues and blues, and the softly strummed guitar meditation that rides a rythmic pulse, is now a gentle musical pink bathroom for those further afield. The recording is intimate, softly sung and gently picked, one of those tracks that makes you feel like you just made a new friend, and would have hit my sweet spot as is, but hold tight for the 'tronica', as some hazy, unexpected ambient winds blow in some vocal samples to add a cool, quietly quirky alt-folk edge halfway through.
Just lovely.
If you need some more gentle, softly sung folk vibes then you should know about Brandon De La Cruz. His Two Kilos of Blue album was my gateway, and is a stunner.
Playlist Companion
Find Stout in the Slow Alt-Folk Playlist.
