This Wednesday (7-2), Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Tommy Wallach will celebrate the release of his debut LP, I Meant It To Be Sweet, at Rockwood Music Hall. The album was released on June 24 via Rude Fox Records.
I Meant It to Be Sweet wraps around its listener like a bedtime story. On the record’s opener “Cold as Christ,” Wallach plays with the common idea of an all-seeing, all-knowing divine entity; he also relates this to the struggles of communication. Wallach collects different recordings of the same vocal melody on “Cold as Christ,” layering them on top of each other. It feels like a gospel unraveling. And it’s also deeply ironic: his words are questioning the divinity that his music is drawn to.
Elements of storytelling—wordplay, irony, recurring themes, and allusions—pervade much of I Meant It to Be Sweet. Wallach conjures alternative country on “The Charade of the Encore.” “Whisper” is a moody blues track that highlights Wallach’s abilities as a guitarist. Wallach’s close attention to detail on I Meant It to Be Sweet relates, of course, to his other interests.
As a fiction writer and novelist, Wallach has published book reviews and short stories. Simon & Schuster will publish his debut novel, We All Looked Up, in March 2015. He’s planning to return to the studio to record an accompanying record with We All Looked Up. His upcoming show promises to be a mix of good singing and storytelling.
Buy/stream the new album here.
Article by: Pam Segura
