Please Meet Sam Forrest’s Imagination

ALBUM REVIEW: Please meet Sam Forrest’s 3rd solo effort No Imagination which finds him moving away from the straight up acoustic/folksy guy in the back shed to the do-it all himself rockband (including drums). This North Yorkshire creator/guitarist has added some noise on rediscovery of the sonic youth adding some nice layers of feedback to the palette of man vs songs and is at the top of his craft. No Imagination will give purveyors of sounds a couple subtle winterly chills that creeps in various textures along the way but even that would not do this release any justice. The music throughout seem to be telling us something; like on the song “The things you need” on the piano before it blares out into this lost episodic wall of feedback or some Jason Lytle(grandaddy) like dream in “Homesick Lullaby”. The problem is these are Sam’s dream-scapes and he’s owning them all like “silent actors with broken tongues” there is a great escape in the mindscape. Connecting the dots organically like the steps one makes along a venerated decision tree wrapped in the plain old frustrations of making music you like,etc. Slightly maddening for sure and then what would it be like if you had no thoughts to build on?

Somehow musicians like Sam get to the sweet spot. Some of the vocals remind me of the recorded style of Elliot Smith and the gospel harmonization of David Crosby from If I Could Only Remember My Name…. all this mixed together like a kids water color painting –a little bury at times but the choices of color seem just right in these portraits. These obfuscations and strong song sensibilities are not unlike The Posies with a Revolveresque influence beening called into the outbuilding where this music was recorded somehow but I’m not sure which song voodoo is more prevalent other than to say it’s spread out keenly with no drudgery on any given instrument. NI fires on all song cylinders not afraid to take risks in it’s travels.

I don’t think the journey to this point has been an easy one having his band Nine Black Alps being dropped by Island/Interscope Records for lack of sales (Happens a lot) and it obviously seems to have encouraged him to keep at it having had a taste of a band on the road to just keep making music with future releases planned out already. This is artist survival and I’ll say the instinct has enabled something really great. If that were not enough he also has project with his girlfriend Hayley Hutchinson called Sorry Kisses. OK, I’ll admit I never heard of either or Sam for that matter until literally 48 hrs ago but just goes to prove a point around the RSHQ. I still don’t know anything. The world has been flattened by the internet and anything can happen or maybe not but one thing is for certain it’s great listening to music that is the fruit of somebody else’s labor of love. Enjoy.

LISTEN & DOWNLOAD: Echo Godless MP3 by Sam Forrest from No Imagination [BUY]

Mix what we hear with these songs:
Orleans by David Crosby from If I Could Only Remember My Name…. (1971)
Birds Encouraged Him MP3 by Jason Lytle from Yours Truly, The Commuter
Gold Star For Robot Boy (GBV cover) MP3 by Jon Auer
Three Imaginary Boys MP3 by The Cure from Boys Don’t Cry (1979)