Nate Smith “Some Kind of Dancing” (Independent, 2018)

LA’s Nate Smith last graced our speakers back in 2016 with concept album ‘Around and Around’; the concept being his personal journey through love, fatherhood, and divorce. Can this new release match such depth of personal engagement or is there some new ground to cover for the Utah-born storyteller?

The opening of new album ‘Some Kind of Dancing’ owes more than a little to Pink Floyd and the rest skirts around Bruce Springsteen in many ways. This makes for familiar fayre – a less favourable listener might suggest formulaic – but the combination of guitar/bass/drums/guitar-solo-goes here/obligatory acoustic moment is far from unpleasant. There are moments where we might consider the songs to be a methodical plod but the lyrics and emotional background are just about enough to keep things moving. The vocal is not accomplished by any means but there are some pleasing melodies and an edge that calls to mind the LA roots from which it springs. What is lacking is gravitas and with its ambition over-reaching slightly, the overall sound is not enough to conjure the majestic targets it sets itself.

On the whole a pleasant listen but not a great deal that begs you to come back for more, unless your thing is fairly thought-provoking, often personal, lyrical commentary in a Springsteen-lite package.