Nate Amos seemingly has it all as far as indie notoriety right now–two buzzy projects (this one and Water From Your Eyes) and artists like MJ Lenderman, Waxahatchee, Hayley Williams, Jeff Tweedy, and Cameron Winter covering his songs. The “your favorite singer’s favorite new singer” designation seems cemented, and there are expectations for The Singer in My Band.
Amos is an extremely talented singer and songwriter, and his ability to seamlessly integrate electropop and folk-tinged songs into a bedroom mixtape vibe is impressive. Even more impressive is his ability to write songs that work across genres. Lenderman’s heartbroken, moving cover of “Dancing in the Club” is miles removed from the original, but not entirely outside the Amos wheelhouse. It’s not hard to imagine there being a demo of the song that is closer to Lenderman’s version.
Box for Buddy, Box for Star and Holo Boy are filled with well–crafted pop gems that deliver instant gratification. I found myself fully captivated by a less-heralded Amos release a few summers ago, My Idea, which was a one-off project with Lily Konigsberg that featured the profane, mopey kiss-off/kiss-me track in “Breathe You”. It’s my perennial Song of the Bummer Summer.
With the restlessness of his array of projects, it should be expected that Amos would deliver something unexpected, and with The Singer in My Band, Amos has done that. On first listen, I was slightly taken aback by how fully he commits to straightforward rock and folk, with the biggest left hook being the tracks that lean harder into bluegrass.
If you’re here for tracks like This Is Lorelei’s Box for Buddy‘s “Perfect Hand” or the original “Dancing in the Club”, you might come away disappointed, but expecting someone like Amos to color in the lines is the wrong mindset. One gets the idea that ideas are just bursting from him at all times, and these are the most compelling ideas he had at the time. If you got on board with Holo Boy, this will likely make you smile.
“I Will Eat My Heart in the Morning Light” is a disarmingly folk-leaning track with some of Amos’ strongest lyrical observations. From there, “Oh No Now My”, “The Kid with the Crown”, and “Billy Came Back” are more straightforward indie rock tracks that give Jon Brion and Elliott Smith. Amos seems to know how to construct a great, memorable pop song, and this record is full of them. “Sailing (Your Baby’s Down)” is another musical gem. Amos’ voice sounds rich and full on these tracks, especially “Billy Came Back”.
The three bluegrass-leaning tracks are kind of jarring on first listen, but they quickly blend into the overall album and go down easy, with “The Singer in My Band” being the strongest. It’s not unheard of to add banjo or straight-ahead country influences to an indie record. Wednesday‘s Bleeds from last year did this effortlessly, too. It’s a little surprising from Amos, but it ultimately comes off as a testament to his ability to write a memorable song with whatever he has in front of him.
If there is anything that might sound like faint praise I can offer The Singer in My Band, it is the tag “mature”. Earlier This Is Lorelei had an undeniably charming playfulness, but hearing the progression to the highlights of Singer is a different kind of exciting. Amos seems to have made the effort to distinguish This is Lorelei from Water from Your Eyes, where earlier Lorelei releases sounded more like a piece with his other band, and this makes sense.
Now that he’s been tagged as a songwriter to watch, it makes sense to release a collection that shows off his talent for hooks and clever wordplay while making it clear that he’s going to keep on trying to catch listeners off guard, disarming them by incorporating unexpected elements into his songs. I’ve often found that his projects take some warming up for me, and this one is no exception. Once I fell for This Is Lorelei’s Box for Buddy, I found that mix of electronics and pop intoxicating. Amos is shaping up to be an artist who’s on to the next while you’re catching up.