Vincent Covello, in the best possible way, is the male Taylor Swift for adults. It’s refreshing to hear a musical achievement like his new album Torchlights which hits on themes such as love, relationships, breakups, and courtship in a manner that’s sophisticated, laidback, and matter-of-fact. Covello is a rare kind of animal these days, someone who is a singer-songwriter but not necessarily fronting his act as a fully formed personality. He leans into the Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon, Jennifer Warnes school. There’s no fluff, there’s no pompous showboating.
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Covello seems less interested in people knowing and comparing his work to him, and more about people enjoying the songs for their commercial flare, and surprisingly sharp, multilayered focus points. This is likely a reflection of Covello’s origins. He’s no novice, and his work no assured passion project. He has ties to some notable indie juggernauts, such as BT, and to music label behemoths like Warner Bros. Records. While admittedly going a more independent route by way of how Torchlights has been handled in the press, Covello is nonetheless a triumphant connoisseur of adult croons, not just an admirer of them trying his hand successfully in a bonafide, musical venue.
This is reflected in tracks like Time Plays Us All, Cry’n Eyes, and the titular Torchlight. These aren’t just slickly made, lyrically precise tracks, but songs with definitive beginnings, middles, and ends. Any truly great songwriter is also a storyteller, someone who evokes in addition to entertains musically. Covello evokes well here, maybe too well. It will be immensely exciting to see what he does next, after establishing himself as a formidable talent in the spirit of adult music acts a la Josh Groban. While Torchlights is a moving, immersive exploration of love and heartbreak, in great tradition, it will be interesting to see what the yang to Mr. Covello’s poise is. While a great work in its own right, what’s so exciting about Torchlights is the implication Mr. Covello is just getting started, and is capable of far more than the already impressive milieus meeting the eye.
The record is aided in its quality presentation by way of who Mr. Covello surrounds himself with. These include music producer Don Miggs, musician and track cowriter Victor Migenes. The recording of the tracks in Torchlights included work from the indie legends Jim Riley Band, the established saxophonist Michael Lington, and Andrew Joslyn. It’s nice to see the synthesizers and computer programming is in the bin, Covello opting for an authentic, raw sound. As someone who dabbled in music myself, there’s a twitchiness and somewhat flawed quality to acoustic production. Something with soul, not something electronically manipulated and technically flawless.
Once again, to bring up yin and yang, it’s like film stock to digital. A relatively seamless track dependent on masterful production by genuine musical performers showcases true talent at work, not to say Torchlights is antiquated in terms of its production value. The sound mixing of each track is top-notch, and modernity oozes out of its clean, smooth packaging, presentational value, and showcasing of Mr. Covello’s talents.
All in all, a solid addition to adult music, and a welcome elixir to the stereotypical releases flooding the established music markets today.
Garth Thomas