CD Review of Let the Woman by Andy Davis
Recommended if you like
David Mead, Ben Folds, Paul Simon
Label
BigHelium
Andy Davis: Let the Woman

Reviewed by Mike Farley

()

Y
ou can forget about the fact that Andy Davis lives in Nashville, at least if you hear that city’s name and automatically think “twang.” Yes, Davis is a singer/songwriter, and yes, he dwells in Music City USA, which might slap a country music tag on him, but he’s as far from that genre as a solo artist can get. Davis’ latest, Let the Woman, has songs from his Fine China EP and Thinks of Her LP among some previously unreleased material, and it’s all good. I mean, really good. If you’re a fan of another Nashvillian, David Mead, there’s no way you won’t love Andy Davis. He’s got a similar tenor-meets-falsetto vocal, songs that use piano to drive them, and beautifully arranged and produced songs that lift in all the right places.

“Earth & Venus” and “Good Life” are holdovers from Fine China, and are two of the best tracks here. The former is possibly Davis’ best song—not only does he successfully compare a long distance love affair with planets’ proximity, but the melancholy feel and sad, piano-driven melody give it this amazing sense of reality. And tracks like “Believable Doubt” and “Brown Eyes,” not to mention “Black Keys” (the latter two were also on Davis’ Thinks of Her debut) are hooky but not in that high-burn rate, Top 40 kind of way—they will simply have you hitting “replay” time and again. Producer Mitchell Froom (Sheryl Crow, Crowded House, Elvis Costello) really brings all of these songs to life, in particular the electronica-infused “Beautiful Day For Bad News” and the picturesque closer, “Union & 3rd.” And the sparsely arranged guitar and piano ballad, “Spade is a Spade,” is the perfect track for a rainy day.

Along with Mead, Davis draws comparisons to piano man Ben Folds (also a Nashville guy) as well as the legendary Paul Simon. And while he’s still young and probably has a long career ahead, Andy Davis is already in good company. Let the Woman is a good mix of his best material along with a few solid new songs, and Davis is no doubt going to earn many new fans with this effort. So if this all floats your boat, Let the Woman is something you should grab from your favorite digital music store shelf.

You can follow us on Twitter and Facebook for content updates. Also, sign up for our email list for weekly updates and check us out on Google+ as well.