Norman, Oklahoma based Young Readers is Jordan Herrera, who has created some restrained yet beautiful pop gems on his debut, Family Trees. The laconic gait of opening track "All I Have" featuring a western influenced foundation with weepy stings is the perfect match for Jordan's restrained yet effective vocals. The Western foundation is upped a few more notches on the waltz timed second track "Box Car" on which Jordan sings 'We can eat cans of beans and you won't hear me complain... And the world will drift away as you and I fall asleep in the hay... And all the sights that we'll see as we hop... from state to state... And the sound of the train is all I need to leave this place.'
On "Wooden Frame" Jordan uses some some nice imagery in the lyrics, 'And it takes a little color... And some time to dry on canvas ...And it takes a 20x16 wooden frame ...To make his journey away seem sincere.' My favorite track on Family Trees is "Blame" a slow burning song that finds Jordan lyrics and vocals full of guilt and resignation. There are countless songs sung about relationships. It's always good to hear a song like "Blame" that is honest and straight forward as well as heartfelt as evidenced by the lyrics ,'I hope the house is still warm ...When I lay my back against yours ...Cause in your bed I feel like a ghost ...Buried in clean sheets and dirty clothes.' When I saw Jordan play in Chicago he gave an explanation for the album closer 'Lion Tamer', which Jordan told the audience was written about a boy he used to look after who has Autism. The boy was neglected and Jordan's sadly poignant take of the situation in 'Lion Tamer'', 'So you claim you're not the fool they say you are ...As you try to prove you're someone that you're not ...They don't understand the creature you've become ...So they lock you up and hide you in the walls.'
Jordan is a confident songwriter who has done a remarkable job on his first release, Family Trees. I think it is stunning in it beautiful simplicity and have listened to it countless times. This album will be on my year end list and I look forward to see what Jordan has up his sleeve is the future.
Jordan is currently on tour. Hi bandcamp download is a free download and you can follow him on his Facebook page I link above to find out when and where you can see him play.
My concert footage from Jordan's Chicago show yesterday will be up on youtube soon.
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