In his second release, Impossible Truth, Nashville-based guitarist William Tyler dazzles with complex acoustic fingerpicking that transports listeners from a grim apocalyptic reality to a dreamlike escape — only to bring them back down, all without uttering a word.
Tyler’s music is all about the talent itself and the feeling it evokes.
Tyler dips into several musical styles throughout the record, with a main focus on bluegrass. He also sprinkles in some Hawaiian and Indian components on occasion.
“The Geography of Nowhere” has a cool tone that lies somewhere between James Bond and a bullfighter.
The almost Spanish style leaves listeners with a feeling that they are in a suspenseful standoff with eyes narrowed and fingertips resting on their gun, ready to draw. Then there is a surprisingly smooth transition into four repeated arpeggio chords that encapsulates the surreal mysticism of death. The track makes a complete circle after being jolted out of the deceitful serenity and thrown back into the unavoidable standoff when the original melody is repeated.
The record finishes its difficult journey with “The World Set Free,” which sounds like the day after a storm. The building picked chord progressions give listeners a feeling of hope and starting anew that is soon emphasized by the addition of light drums and advancing horns. After a few minutes, the music goes into free fall from a grungy electric guitar tangent that takes it in a new direction before relaxing back into vibrating electric notes.
The combination picking and overlapping ringing notes is a magic trick asking to be unriddled.
Tyler’s variety and emotional manipulation tempts listeners into wanting more of his musical drug.
Dive Verdict: ????1/2
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