Listen: Nat Baldwin – Lifted

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You will recognise Nat Baldwin as the double bassist from Dirty Projectors, but he is also a solo musician in his own right, and upcoming album People Changes is his fourth full-length effort. There were three years between the songs on the album being written and recorded, so you can be sure that the tracks will be highly developed compositions, not to mention the fact that they were conceived in a cabin in the New England wilderness.

‘Lifted’, which appears on the album, gives prominence to Baldwin’s soft and sweetly toned vocals, whilst a constant throbbing double bass line provides an anchorage to the sporadic bursts of frenetic dischordant jazz. It is these moments of arch experimentalism that perhaps remind you most about Baldwin’s other job with Dirty Projectors, but they are still very different acts. Baldwin’s fragile vocals, and the often stripped-back instrumentation give the impression of a very introspective artist, and the facts about the production of the album, and that the people who helped him make it were a ‘lean ensemble of time-proven friends’ supports the idea of it being a very personal effort.

Effortlessly experimental but lacking in pretense, Nat Baldwin’s ‘Lifted’ is a challenging, but beautiful track that highlights his talent both vocally, and in creating dynamic, unusual compositions. In moments it is fragile and delicate, and in others euphoric and uniquely powerful – from beginning to end however, it is surprising and carefully crafted, and immediately demands repeated listens.

People Changes will be released in the UK on July 25 via Western Vinyl.

Nat Baldwin – Lifted by 7Johnk7