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“The Same Mistakes” is the newest single from New York City’s Leo Sawikin and sets him up for massive success in the second half of 2023. It’s a return to first principles for Sawikin, as well, as he’s recovering both his creative drive and inspiration following a post-pandemic lull. This single is the second track on Sawikin’s pending second collection and finds him working with highly respected producer Phil Ek, famed for his work with several bands such as Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, and Fleet Foxes. It’s a five-star match. Ek understands how to frame Sawikin’s talents in the best possible frame without ever losing sight of the larger picture.
The sound of the track is exceptional. Sawikin and Ek have a firm grasp on how to best depict the former’s talents. The warm glow surrounding the instrumentation never wavers during the track. Sawikin’s guitar, in particular, provides the arrangement with its musical heart and invites listeners into his musical world. The drumming escalates in an appropriate way from its understated beginnings to a hard-hitting finale that puts an emphatic exclamation point on the performance.
Sawikin’s single likewise benefits from stellar musicianship. Top-notch guitar playing distinguishes the song from beginning to end and shows a real knack for operating in a chameleon-like way. His line of attack transforms near the song’s end and adds a near-anthemic quality to the recording. The drumming, as well, shows a real penchant for shifting gears as the laid-back percussion of the song’s first half takes a distinctive shift in tenor by the cut’s end. It’s an all-around impressive performance.
His vocals are well-matched to the song’s sound. There’s a unity of singing and instrumentation that makes “The Same Mistakes” an even more impressive listening experience. Sawikin’s voice has a comforting and considered tilt during the song’s first half and responds accordingly to the increased intensity of the track’s second portion. There’s a lot of thought behind this performance and it makes for a fulfilling listening experience.
The single’s lyrics are another of its strong suits. Sawikin writes with plain-spoken elegance that drives to the heart of the matter without ever succumbing to pretentious twaddle. It’s easy to hear the experience that Sawikin has gleaned through life when you pay attention to the song’s lyrics, but they serve the song first and foremost rather than sounding overwritten and uneasily superimposed over the song’s arrangement. His vocals enhance their meaning, as well, without ever slipping into over-dramatization.
It’s a powerful return for Leo Sawikin that will touch a nerve with all but the most cynical of listeners. It’s likewise a first-class harbinger of the greater glories to come when his second studio outing under his name emerges in full. The New York City singer/songwriter is a thoroughly contemporary talent whose grounds his gifts in unquestionable fundamentals and sparked by life’s genuine poetry, however heartbreaking and melancholy it may often be. We’re lucky to have such songwriters around who can speak to our ongoing efforts to muddle our way through life’s weird twists and turns.
Jennifer Munoz
