As
Noah Georgeson has been a key associate of both
Joanna Newsom and
Devendra Banhart, it's no surprise that his debut solo album is eccentric singer/songwriter folk-rock, with the accent on the folk rather than the rock. Fortunately, it's not explicitly reminiscent of either
Newsom or
Banhart, though there are similarities in the vibe. Instead, it's slightly wacked out Americana, rather in the mold of a 21st century
Lee Hazlewood -- a legendary cult figure to whom
Georgeson's wavering cowboy-operatic vocal style will inevitably draw comparisons. Like
Hazlewood,
Georgeson decorates wistful, plaintive folky songs with grandiose instrumentation and an unsettlingly brooding mix of the down-home and the unfathomably strange.
Georgeson's arrangements certainly have more of an alternative rock (and less of a standard pop) cast, however, whether it's tinkling percussion, shaky organ, or ghostly synthetic strains. Find Shelter is an interesting and idiosyncratic maiden effort, though it's unlikely to find as large an audience as
Banhart and
Newsom have, owing to both the narrowness of
Georgeson's vocal range and the inscrutability of his songwriting. ~ Richie Unterberger