Sunny and melodic folk-pop with thoughtful and philosophical words.
“So Much I Still Don’t See” is Sam Robbins’ third album after his debut, “Finally Feeling Young” (2021) and 2022’s “Bigger Than in Between”. It is melodic folk-pop in the style of James Taylor, Harry Chapin and, at times, Paul Simon that you immediately feel at home with. Robbins was originally from New Hampshire and used to go walking in the hills with his father who brought CDs by 70s singer-songwriters like the ones mentioned above to listen to in their truck on the way there. This clearly had a powerful influence on the young Robbins that has lasted to this day.
The album was recorded in an old church in Springfield, Massachusetts, and is centred on Robbins’ delightful finger-picking acoustic guitar and beautifully clear vocals. Produced by singer-songwriter Seth Glier, the guitar and vocals were recorded live and so sound like Robbins’ live performances. Added in to give a fuller and more satisfying sound are piano, keyboard and organ, along with electric guitar, low-key upright bass and drums. Female backing vocals from Robbins’ fiancée Halley Neal appear in some tracks, and Glier adds his harmonies at times, too.
Robbins comes across as a thoughtful, questioning and philosophical person, wanting to find meaning in his life. This makes a nice change from the bombastic certainties which you hear from some. In the Motown-flavoured ‘What a Little Love Can Do’, written in despair after a shooting in Nashville, where he was living, he writes “I wanna believe/In something bigger than me”. In the Chet Atkins-influenced second track, he writes that he is looking for ‘The Real Thing’ which is seemingly not found in the corporate world he sees around him. He seems to take great notice of and be sensitive to the world around him- the opener ‘Piles Of Sand’ was written after walking through Nashville. He explains, “Walking down a riverside path in Nashville, next to the barbed wire of a prison, watching and feeling gravel being blasted for a high flying condo building across the street was a very inspiring moment”
Robbins has been particularly influenced by reading a book on the philosophy of Stoicism, which encourages people to find meaning in life by taking the path of virtue in their actions, and has found that this has given him an inner peace. The fabulously catchy ‘All So Important’, with the message that it actually isn’t, has Stoicism at its heart.
The love songs here work very well. The quieter ‘Live Them In Love’ has touching words, where he wonders how many years he will have with his partner and tells of a determination to have love at the centre of them. ‘Ride With Me’, with its great chorus, thanks her and asks her to join him on the ride through life. The final track is an excellent cover of the Beatles’ tender love song ‘I Will’, which improves on the original by having Robbins and Neal singing together beautifully.
“So Much I Still Don’t See” is an enjoyable album with sunny melodies and warm words that give you a good feeling as you listen to them.
