For better or for worse, some artists just keep on operating just outside the main tracks of the music industry. They may gain a critical base, even a small (or not so small) fan base, but for whatever reason, they don’t get big headlines or a push by streaming services.
Case in point here is Vermont singer-songwriter Gregory Douglass, who has been steadily releasing music since late in the last century (his first album registered sometime in 1998), and is now up to the mark of 10 albums with his latest, tongue-in-cheek titled album Amateur.
Now, even though his albums have kept gaining critical praise and independent artists doing it all on their own have been gaining access to wider audiences in recent times, Douglass so far has been heard more through the word of mouth, than through the ‘regular’ music sources. Whatever the reason might be, Amateur and its 10 songs amply prove that Douglass should have been more widely recognized long time ago.
Amateur introduces quite a few changes. First of all, this time around Douglass decided to go the ‘standard’ record label way, something that just might bring him more chances with wider audiences.
At the same time, in the music realm itself, instead of doing it all by himself and his trusted piano, Douglass treated his songs with full orchestral arrangements, giving them an augmentation that many critics and listeners might label as baroque pop.
Now without going into real depths and definitions of the term baroque pop, with such an approach, as an artist, you have to be really careful. You can overkill with the arrangements, often as an attempt to cover any deficiencies the songs might have themselves, or you can try to strike a balance where lush orchestral arrangements serve as an enrichment of the music, rather than a purpose itself.
In the latter case, it all depends on the talent and ability of the artist to strike that balance, and Douglass does that admirably throughout. “Stay in Line” in particular shows how subdued orchestration serves the purpose of the song itself.
At the same time, his lyrics dive deep into his personal life, with the cover of Tori Amos’ “Tear in Your Hand” serving as a sort of guide here, with Douglas noting: “I was drawn to the song for the way it holds intimacy, heartbreak and emotional ambiguity at once, and approached it as a deeply personal interpretation through my own voice.”
Having also in mind that this is the first album of original songs Douglass recorded in over a decade, as he notes himself, it is obvious that it took him time, patience and perseverance to record it, bearing some very good results in the end.
