The disc kicks off with my personal favorite track off the album, "Sixteen". The track is an frenetic, upbeat musical joy with high energy guitar riffs and Troy's passionate vocal presence and insightful lyrical outline that immediately makes you feel what Troy is describing at the same time, even though you may not clearly identify with what he's singing about, you'll get the gist of it by the time the song is over. "I'm With You" is a pure, homegrown country style ballad with wistful and joyous folk tinged rhythms immediately making you feel relaxed and honored to be in the musical presence of such a talented musician who has a clear grasp of the type of music he wants to play, and how he wants to communicate with his musical audience at the same time. "Coffee In The Morning" is a polished and reworked version of a track that previously appeared on his debut effort. In comparison to the original version, this one features more prominent folk tinged rhythms that make it an entirely new track altogether, and allows you to see Troy's musical mission being realized and executed to perfection here on a terrific and well thought out tune. We wrap things up here with "Paris, TX", a truly beautiful track that features lightly touched acoustic guitar rhythms and Troy's delicate vocal abilities bringing it all back home with a track that manages to incorporate all the elements from the prior songs to create an encapsulated overview of the album at a glance, and manages to fully capture the spirit and essence of Troy's musical craft hard at work in full force here. I've had the pleasure of seeing Troy perform in person at concert and have seen him create music in the studio as well, and I'm constantly in awe of how much skill and devotion he gives to each and every song he creates, and while it might sometimes be frustrating for some performers to clearly articulate of how they want to sing certain lyrics, Troy has a clear vision mapped out in his head of how he wants his artistic vision to be realized, and the plan has come to fruition on an highly successful and creative musical effort heard here.
In retrospect, an absolutely terrific and full focused effort here from Troy Cartwright, who has brought everything in his arsenal here to create a highly skilled and honed in effort here that fully captures the musical spirit and essence that he wanted to create in the first place, and puts him in a class all his own. Highly recommended!
Album Score: 4.5/5
Track Listing:
- Sixteen
- I'm With You
- Coffee In The Morning
- Paris, TX
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