Greg Laswell

“The One I Love“
from the album Three Flights From Alto Nido
2008
iTunes

The sophomore full-length from Vanguard Records darling Greg Laswell is a record of beautifully constructed songs full of airy and sweeping melodies and sexy tenor vocals. The defining characteristic of Three Flights From Alto Nido, however, is a therapeutic lyrical content based on renewal and letting go of loss.

Laswell has drawn comparisons to Jeff Buckley, Ron Sexsmith, and Radiohead due to his expressive piano melodies and airy guitar riffs. The lightness in the instrumentation is matched with heavy, self-reflective lyrics apparent on tunes such as single “The One I Love.“ Laswell croons, “I’m not sure why I’m / I’m running away from the only thing I want” atop a bouncy beat with whimsical keys and upbeat instrumentation.

Ambient yet staccato piano melodies and a driving tambourine creates a great summer song to blast while driving. “Days Go On” and “I’d Be Lying” display an eerie quality, be it in the vocals or piano melodies, but retain that beauty that Laswell is so good at capturing in his sadness. A grand, sweeping piano steals “Farewell” while it’s Laswell sexy vocals that garner all the listener’s attention on “Not Out” and closer “And Then You.”

Should you have the patience to wait (it’s worth it) or get distracted and not take the CD out of the player immediately, you’ll get to hear a bonus track which is the GarageBand (which he totally pimps) demo of track 2 “That It Moves.” The demo, obviously stripped down compared to its final mastered successor, features upbeat acoustic strumming and provides an inside look to Laswell’s creating process.