THE KNIGHTS PROJECT • THE SHOREHAM SESSIONS
The Shoreham Sessions by The Knights Project begins with a wonderful exposition.
The album opens with "Stars Fell," beginning with broken chords, washing across what feels like way more guitars than I'm sure exist in the track. Lucy Day and Tom Cowin exquisitely intertwine their playing, which proves to be a hallmark of the act's sound.
Lucy establishes her beautiful voice among the instruments, taking wonderful rhythmic turns alongside the instrumentation before allowing them to bloom and expand pushing the song forward. "Needless" follows, showing the band's maturity and attention to detail. It is declarative, yet vulnerable, a perfect offering to follow the first exposition. These types of production decisions are those that make heavily profound albums.
It takes time to set up emotion, and as with any solid album, even more time to take the listener on a journey. The Knights Project takes time with their songs without wasting a drop of it. Guy Hayes joins for vocals on "Mollusc," and is a pleasant surprise. Hayes harmonically snuggles right next to Lucy, paying great attention to detail. The Knights Project moves throughout The Shoreham Sessions with focus and control. "Lung" gives a bit of a surprise with its change throughout, and again, it is very welcome and well-placed. Lucy's lyrical maturity can't go unnoticed.
As I make my way through the sessions, I long to know a bit more about her influences. "The Land of the Dead," with its phantoms, gives me a bit of personal imagery. Rather, I mean I derive my own personal meaning from it, which is something all artists should hope for. That's not to say that listeners shouldn't pay attention to messages, but it sure helps songs stick in people's heads when they can attribute new meaning. That is a difficult task to accomplish; it takes wit.
The Shoreham Sessions is as sharp as it is beautiful; it will disarm and decompress listeners. Each note peels away another layer revealing a deep, well-thought-out, sincere recording worth sharing with loved-ones.
