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The new album Minstrel Class from Ari Pappalardo is a work he can hold his head high over. He’s written, played on, and recorded a music collection covering nearly every conceivable base because these songs are, in turns, victorious, vulnerable, broken, amused, and regretful. That’s a start. Pappalardo has encompassed a broad spectrum of human experiences into songs capable of continually surprising even veteran music fans as well.
URL: https://www.aripappalardo.com/
We get an early taste of his unpredictability with the opening tandem of “Where is the Line?” and “Gone N Dunnit”. The piano, light vocal effects, pristine guitar, and attentive timekeeping seem to swirl from the beginning, but there’s always a firm artistic hand giving it shape. The latter is, instead, much more conventional. Pappalardo constructs it around the acoustic guitar and the album production captures the instrument with warm clarity. He incorporates several ear-catching rhythmic shifts during this song sure to hold the listener’s attention. At its heart, the second track is a strong alternative rocker with acoustic instruments.
“Spellbound” borrows some from those songs and throws new ingredients into the stew. The additions come as jazzed-up, near free-form percussion that nevertheless keeps the song focused and moving. Pappalardo responds to the different textures with a vocal suiting the moment rather than trying to superimpose an one-size-fits-all approach. “Don’t Shoot Me” represents another almost 180-degree turn as he veers into outright guitar rock territory. It’s far from bombastic, however. Pappalardo’s take on the style produces a sinewy confection packing plenty of bite.
The early muted swing of “That’s Not How You Love” and its insistent pulse eventually gives way, in the song’s second half, to an electric guitar-fueled Gotterdammerung. Everything comes crashing down on the listener’s head and we get a glimpse into the song’s chaotic heart. Stately flourishes fill the intro for “London Fog” and he maintains that same inflated feel for the duration of the song. It isn’t heavy-handed, however, but rather high pop that he carries off quite well.
APPLE MUSIC: https://music.apple.com/us/album/minstrel-class/1614599930
“What Do You Stand to Lose?” definitely benefits from the open-hearted qualities of Pappalardo’s voice. You never get the sense of him holding back for his audience and he has a way of enunciating key words and phrases that conveys real engagement. He never sounds like he’s coasting. Many of the same musical elements present in earlier songs recur during the closer but his imagination hasn’t flagged. He rearranges his themes in a compelling way and introduces new variations – there’s a real climatic mood here, a feeling of reaching for a final statement, that will work for many.
It satisfies casual and hardcore music fans alike. There’s ample sophistication in these eleven songs, but there’s likewise the consistent and confident voice of a songwriter speaking to listeners “on their level”. Minstrel Class avoids any sign of self-indulgence or pretension while holding on to intelligence, personality, and significance. That’s no small thing. It isn’t hard to expect Pappalardo will be back with a new release in the near future and his canvas and songwriting powers will continue expanding.
Jennifer Munoz
