Martin Callingham Paints Picturesque Folk Frames with ‘Patterns’
Martin Callingham writes songs like a painter paints. His folk is not only serene and immersive but incredibly picturesque and birthing with visual stories. The singer-songwriter has a simplistic acoustic style and golden baritones with which he wholly details his soundscapes. His latest release is the ‘Patterns’ album, a collection with an essence that crashes down on you. It is full of meaning and carries a deep sentimental weight in a way that is reminiscent of artists like Nick Drake, Elliott Smith, Hozier, and Sufjan Stevens. To listen to Callingham is to experience the human spirit in its most bare, nostalgic and melancholic form.
He is very eloquent in his passion. His minimalistic style is succinct and impactful as it curves along poetic vocal hills. In ‘Ninetree Hill’, a classical piano introduction leads to a winding baritonal path. Its glassy textures twinkle in the mellow drama of the instrumentals. The rhythms dance in the timeless sphere, momentous in each stroke. We see slow evolving structures like this across the album; in ‘A Pulse in the Void’, ‘Scully’, and ‘Forging’. The acoustics are hypnotically monotonal. A dazing lullaby.
‘Bedding In’ reinforces the intimate ethos of ‘Ninetree Hills’. Its rhythm is a little more dynamic and active. However, the melodies are designed as extensions of each other, appearing to form a long odyssey that illuminates epiphanic patterns. The dilations of ‘Wrapped in Rennes’ align with this progression, offering a fresh but related gradient of thought. The instrumentals are pensive and reflective. They hold a stark depth that centers you like gravity.
The title track is drizzled with melodic patterns. Fuzzy baritones disperse the classical piano scores. And across this spanning scatter, the blues breeze through. Martin’s melancholic vocals highlight the instrumental blues. And finally ‘Treehouse’. Concluding with an intense nostalgic moment. Even if the lyrics don’t shape your reality, his sentiments surely will. And on its wings, you can fly back to your childhood past and find trinkets like comfort, safety, joy, and carefreeness. The soundscape nicely wraps up the continuum. With transcendental melody structures and parabolic courses, it creates a wholesome climax. Listen Now!
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The album is available for streaming on popular sites like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music!
You can listen to ‘Patterns’ by Martin Callingham here -
