David Poe David Poe Sony 550 Music

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On his self-titled debut, David Poe matriculates himself in the school of eclectic folk-rock among classmates Ani Difranco and Peter Mulvey. Drifting from Dayton, Ohio to New York City and playing in numerous punk, folk, and eclectic ensembles over the past 15 years, the singer-songwriter has developed a uniquely experimental, acoustic-based sound to call his own. Poe refined his West Village sensibilities through stints at New York's acclaimed C.B.'s Gallery and performing in a drum-guitar duo with Rollins Band member Sim Cain. David Poe features a marvelous collection of stripped-down tunes defined through sparse instrumentation, capturing all the authenticity of live performance within the confines of recorded media. The songs themselves seem to organically bleed into each other, taking on a life of their own and blending across surprisingly smooth edges. They flow into one another with a mature vision of creative expression highlighted through the work of producer T-Bone Burnett (Wallflowers, Counting Crows). Poe marks "Telephone Song" with the steady hum of earthy vocals, and follows with the catchy, infectiously melodic overtones of "Blue Glass Fall." An eery slide guitar introduces "California," and the classically trained musician winks at Pachelbel's Canon on "Moon" through simple, yet highly sophisticated guitar arpeggios. The bossanova beat of "Apartment" emphasizes Poe's raspy, warm vocals inscribed within eclectic, slow-paced guitar work. His sardonic wit emerges on "Bloody" (which he calls "the sick joke that everybody gets") as he quips, "If I saw you getting beaten in the street/I would stop them hurting you and finish the job with my own words." At the South by Southwest Music Festival, Poe admitted sticking to depressing themes. "A friend told me all my songs were depressing to him. I tried to write a happy song, but I failed miserably." Which is not to say he writes nothing but ballads. Quite the opposite, as many of his songs have an upbeat rhythm underlying the mournful lyrics. If he could give voice to a generation, David Poe speaks to all the twentysomethings who detest the Generation X label. Highly sophisticated instrumentation, lyrical intelligence make this one of the most startingly original, organically experimental releases this year. Now well into the school of eclecticism, pray he never graduates to something too worthy for fringe culture. -AC [This review originally appeared in the April issue of Consumable Online]

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