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Album Details

• Artist: Soltero
• Album: Defrocked and Kicking The Habit
• Label: Handsome
• Year of Release: 2004
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2004-05-17

Soltero is basically one guy, Boston-based Tim Howard who has recruited three other musicians to flesh out his bedroom ballads. Joining him are Casey Keenan, Ben Macri, and Alexander McGregor. Howard's music is fairly sparse on instrumentation but works very nicely. There is one caveat though, it does take a bit of time to fully appreciate what Soltero is all about. The album opens with the understated "I'll Be A Writer", just a guitar and Tim's vocals leading the way and then other instruments just barely join in creating a nice backdrop for his deep vocals. More than once I thought that Soltero had a lot of similarities to the drunken Scots Arab Strap. Sometimes the music is a little dark but the quality is there. The production on Defrocked is superb and allows Howard's vocals to remain the focus of the album. My favorite track is the shanty "I See It Now". It has the rolling 3/4 signature that sets it apart and a bit of lapsteel that adds some character. This is a great album that fans of bedroom inspired music will enjoy.

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