Xander Smith takes listeners to ‘San Pedro’

Hey San Pedro, Xander Smith’s new solo acoustic album, is able to capture the singer’s soothing vocals, letting listeners clearly understand his lyrics, his heart and his mind. There are few fireworks on the 11-song release. Smith’s playing of the guitar, piano and bass are all secondary to his distinctive voice and the stories he tell us like a troubadour.

This simplistic quality has its positive and negative aspects. While allowing us to get deeper into each song, the style also causes each track to sound vaguely similar to the previous one. It’s almost as if the entire album were one giant song split into 11 parts. Differentiation becomes moot after a while, and, for some reason, that seems perfectly acceptable. His songs have a Beatles-esque quality to them that make them easy listening, easily digestible and enjoyable. Pop the CD into a stereo and it will float around the room for an hour, entering your ears like a dreamy trip.

The album’s opener, “Down,” begins the laconic look at lonesomeness. With lyrics that highlight “staring sideways,” “I’m so quiet” and “I keep callin’ since I’ve fallen,” each song usually follows a narrator tracking down a girl who almost always seems out of reach.

Not every tune deals with starting a relationship. “Horrible” looks at the bitter deteriorating of a love that’s grown sour. Smith’s lyrics are plain and simple: “Take all your precious things / And take all your pretty little rings / Don’t mean a thing now that you’re gone”.

“Lost Along the Way” sounds like it were produced in the 1960s, something off The White Album. By repeating “I’m lost along the way,” we follow in Smith’s footsteps, his reminiscences about the past and his weariness over the future.

“Hey San Pedro” is probably the album’s strongest song. Opening first with what sounds like a Spanish-language voiceover, the song slowly go through its first verse like a methodical lurch toward revelation. It’s a perfect example of Smith’s talents in the acoustic realm — showing the usefulness of instruments and the bliss that can happen when everything but his voice stops cold.

Hey San Pedro, produced by Smith and Mike Harrison, could have been near-perfect if it changed things up for the second part of the album. Faster tunes or a break from the solemnity would have broken up the 11 tracks, allowing listeners a chance to see the singer’s range. As it stands, we’re left with a nice grouping of songs that roll over one another, fusing together and losing their distinctiveness along the way. Perfectly acceptable, but not terribly adventurous.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Hey San Pedro

• Xander Smith

• 11 tracks

• Click here for more information.

• Rating: