Vents MagaZine Music and Entertainment Magazine
Related Articles
Sonic depth unquestionably matters as much as lyricism does when it comes to making a really thoughtful alternative rock record, and there’s no getting around the way Leo Sawikin prioritizes it in his new album Row Me Away. Rather than centering all of his prowess on the elegant poetry of “Born Too Late,” “Wasting My Whole Life,” “All Just a Drop,” and “Take What You Want,” Sawikin is pouring a lot of emotion into the instrumental framework that makes his yearning verses sound as haunting as they do here. He’s determined to make something multidimensional and reflective of who he wants to be as a composer in this album, and although I’ve heard him go the distance with the mic in his hands before now, I think this is among his most exceptional work yet.
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/leosawikin/
The narratives presented to us within the tracklist of Row Me Away feel personal on every count but equally relatable and devoid of the insularities becoming all too common in alternative music over the past few years. The pandemic and resulting quarantine culture that the music industry experienced in 2020 resulted in a circular nature finding its way into the lyrical emissions of countless singer/songwriters and rock players around the underground, but there’s something definitively open and airy about Sawikin’s presence in “You Love Too Much” and the title track for me to feel the same kind of boxy undertow in this music as I do that of the competition. We’re not locked in with this artist, but instead breaking away by his side.
There’s a good balance to the texture and tonality that we uncover in songs like “Golden Days (Far Out At Sea),” “All Jut a Drop” and “Born Too Late” that really jumps out of the speakers and demands a reaction out of even the most discriminating of critics, and I love how much time and attention Sawikin obviously put into the minutest of details in the construction of Row Me Away. There’s nothing in the foundations of this record that isn’t sterling and sophisticatedly designed to convey some true passionate statement from the man behind the music, and as much as I would love to hear this from around the pop world, it’s just not going to happen this season.
I first fell in love with this album’s lead single back in March, but having now spent some quality time with its complete tracklist I can say that those who adore the music of The Chordaes will not be disappointed with what the band’s leading man has given us in this set of ten tenacious tracks. From the stunner “Born Too Late” to more understated numbers like “If I Stayed” and “Wasting My Whole Life,” Leo Sawikin is a musician who isn’t scared to challenge himself even in the middle of a rather poignant harmony, and while I don’t think he’s the only singer/songwriter in rock that you should be following out the indie circuit right now, he’s understandably on top of the world this October.
by Loren Sperry
