SPEAKING FOR THE BREEZE | Sam Amidon

THE BRIDGE-MAKER: The songs on Sam Amidon’s album “I See the Sign” come in like a cool breeze, his voice soft among an elegant rustle of brass and woodwind, arranged by the talented Nico Muhly. It’s so seamless, Amidon makes these eleven intricate and complex arrangements feel as easy as swinging in a hammock. But the textures within these songs are a departure from the uber-laid back sways of “All Is Well”, Amidon’s second full-length album. Shahzad Ismaily adds his wide world of percussion to “How Come the Blood”, a traditional song about a man who kills his own brother.

The album features a number of instruments to compliment Amidon’s voice: guitar, banjo, piano, moog, and strings that cross the paths between folk, pop, Appalachia and Americana. Track two, “Way Go Lily”, originally a child’s singing game, begins with a guitar strum in repetition and breathy vocals that sound like Nick Drake reincarnate. Amidon is a folk artist with an appreciation for modern instrumentation. He’s a musician that understands, bridging the gap between the traditional and the unusual, often yields something prettily unexpected.

The Vermont singer creates his own unique revision of R&B singer R. Kelly’s previously unreleased “Relief”. (Amidon thankfully drops Kelly’s godawful and clichéd verse about “the man upstairs”.) Amidon soars on the album’s best track, the Georgia Sea Island song, “You Better Mind”, built on a beautiful duet with singer Beth Orton. (Clearly one of the best songs of the year, which you can hear here at NPR.) — Words by David D. Robbins Jr.

Sam Amidon “Relief” (R. Kelly cover)

VIDEO BELOW: Sam Amidon (w/Beth Orton) “You Better Mind”