ROBERT PRIEST plays the Tranzac Southern Cross on Sunday (May 12). See listing. Rating: NNN
On his cover of Drake’s Take Care for NOW’s 50:50 video series, British Columbia-born singer/songwriter Robert Priest impressively makes the words of a young rapper believable in a stripped-down double-guitar rendition. (Getting all those syllables in without actually rapping is impressive in itself.)
Listening to his latest album, it’s obvious the guy has experience with wordplay. Priest is a prolific poet as well as children’s author, and his strength lies in his storytelling. His voice is good but not great. His themes run the gamut from lovemaking on My Favourite Word to the destruction of the earth’s natural resources on Nowhere Anywhere.
(He also has a sense of humour, as evidenced by his Drake take, the album cover art and tongue-in-cheek track Who The Fuck Knows.)
Some of the album country-tinged folk borders on campfire singalong and sounds a little trite (To You), but Feeling The Pinch is a pleasant package from a clever messenger.
Top track: The Bomb In Reverse
