Corey Stapleton
A melancholic melody lingers in the air around us long after the piano keys and gentle vocal harmonies of Kabul’s Fallen” have faded from our reach, and although the backdrop of the track is stirringly dark, the light contained within Corey Stapleton’s voice is anything but gloomy. Although there are moments in Stapleton’s debut album Sea Change that recall clandestine folk-pop of a rather retro quality, this is one of the true gems of the record, and perhaps the best glimpse into who this songwriter can be with a bit of refinement on the lyrical end. Stapleton has some impressive qualities, and for this being his rookie release, he’s exploiting them quite adeptly, without leaving a lot of questions about his depth as an artist.
The concept for Sea Change is pretty simple - straightforward verses and a contemporary pop influence over the structure of the hooks, but in the case of “Mosaic,” “New Me,” and the title track, I wonder if Stapleton could have been a bit simpler in his approach. This isn’t to say he’s embracing indulgence the way some of his peers have been in the last few years, but I do think he has the potential to develop bad habits if he doesn’t center his sound on a singular dynamic, at least in this early stage of the game.
Harmonies rule over all else in “As the Crow Flies,” the stunning “Western Son,” and the layered “The Darkest Part,” all three of which are some of the best examples of what this singer/songwriter does best.
When he’s firing on all cylinders with The Pretty Pirates behind him, Stapleton has as much of a rock identity as he does the passive folk singer, and I would love to hear a bit more duality in this vein the next time he makes an LP.
“The Coin,” “Make This Work,” “My First Rodeo. Not.,” and “Even Though” showcase some of the better frills-free hooks you’re going to find on a debut record out of this genre in 2022, and while they’re not as radio-ready as “Western Son” and “The Darkest Part” are, they give us a couple of solid clues as to what we might get out of a live performance from Corey Stapleton and his band. Supposing he were to continue with this setup, I can see him developing a lean and mean concert sound that might give him even more credibility than a lot of hours in the studio would.
There’s a lot to unpack in Sea Change, but for the most part, I think the strongest takeaway from the first Corey Stapleton LP is that crossover folk records are always best when they feature a dominant attribute at the forefront of the spotlight, of which this singer/songwriter has a couple he’s still bringing into form. It’s got some rough edges here and there, almost all of them compositional in nature, but you’re not likely to find some of the seductive melodic charms Stapleton has as a singer anywhere else in his scene right now.
Joshua Beach
Melbourne, AUS
4/2022
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