On his debut album,
Wellswood, New Orleans-by-way-of-Florida singer/songwriter
Thomas Dollbaum paints the bleakest pictures with a knowing grin, delivering lyrics of rough-living characters and their grim stories as gorgeous, softly glowing Americana.
Dollbaum's gentle mumble is somewhere between
Richard Buckner and
Arthur Russell, and the vocals sit low in the mix, perhaps to obscure just how raw some of the content of these songs can get. Over airy acoustic guitars, fluttering lap steel notes, and sweet vocal harmonization from
Kate Teague, on opening track "Florida,"
Dollbaum runs through scenes of prostitutes, substance abuse, and repeated disappointments looking for a home in a land of empty promises. Without the brilliant instrumentation and inspired vocal performances, the lyrical content alone might be too oppressively sad to handle. This thoughtful balance between intense subject matter and relaxed, beatific instrumental presentation is a key element of what makes
Wellswood so moving. Each of the eight songs touches on hard living, desperate times, or lost souls, but
Dollbaum keeps his listeners from falling into despair themselves by making sure every crushing line is delivered with a soft touch. This comes through in the rocking sway and carefree double-tracked vocals of "God's Country" or the smooth, summery funk groove of "All Is Well." Never mind that both songs are about drunkenness, displacement, and disillusion.
Dollbaum's charming approach makes the rock bottom he's depicting sound almost appealing.
Wellswood covers a lot of ground over just eight tracks, experimenting with the arrangements to include moments of drum machine, violin, and dynamic swells from spare guitars and distant vocals to full-band explosions on "Strange." Varied but consistent,
Wellswood transcends mere impressive debut status, with
Dollbaum's tight control on both his musical delivery and the emotional tenor of his songs sounding on par with an artist who's been on the road for decades. Like some of the best downhearted American songwriters before him,
Dollbaum's tunes are sometimes devastating, sometimes frighteningly honest about just how bad things can get, but they never lose sight of hope. ~ Fred Thomas