Album Name: Battler
Artist: Gregory Douglass
Year/Label: 2009 / Emote Man Music, BMI
Review by Amy Producer of Collected Sounds
I know I say this every time I review his work, but each time Gregory puts out a new record it is even better than the last. I always think, ‘well this one is the best, he’ll never top it.’ And yet, each time he does.
There are still several songs on Up and Away that I am completely and totally in love with and that won’t change, but I’m so happy that I have a whole new batch to make a part of my personal soundtrack.
His voice is in lovely form and the songs are written and performed in such a way to showcase this beautifully. There’s so much emotion in his voice and his songs you can’t help but get pulled in.
In his earlier releases, I noticed a sort of sameness among many of the songs. I’m seeing now that he’s taking some really great chances in rhythms and tempos as well as key changes and minor notes that bring a whole new layer to his songs.
There’s an art to making your songs sound different enough from each other to make the total album very interesting while still maintaining your unique sound so that no matter what song is heard the listener knows immediately it’s you. I think Gregory has perfected this.
This is a wonderful record, definitely one of my favorites of the year so far (I know it’s early, but it’s easy to call this one).
Early favorites (though I know eventually I’d name them all): Broken Through, Day of the Battler, Sadly (gorgeous backing vocals by Anais Mitchell), and I think my favorite is Lifeline. Today anyway.
Track Listing
1 Broken Through
2 Cathedrals
3 Devotion
4 Day of the Battler
5 No Apology
6 Stay
7 Madeline
8 Sadly (feat. Anais Mitchell)
9 This Is My Life
10 Lifeline
11 Harlequin
12 Ordinary Man (feat. Grace Potter)
[Gregory Douglass Official Site]