Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream

Denison Witmer’s latest elixir for an ever-growing audience is his new long player Carry The Weight.  Suggesting a heavier, more somber tone to the album, the album title is only somewhat applicable.  On the opening “Beautiful Boys and Girls”, Witmer’s voice conjures up a certain ‘catchy’, almost infectious darkness that serves to adorn the song rather than detract from it.  The disciplined piano keys of “Carry The Weight” is an achingly sweet statement of (perhaps) the burdens that Witmer must take on.  But he proves fearless in this endeavor, as the song crescendoes into a wonderfully melodious concoction of pianos and harmonious voices.

The seemingly lighter but slightly repetitive “Catholic Girl” shows Witmer’s penchant for writing more sanguine folk songs.  Witmer continues to dispel the ‘carry the weight’ notion with “Life Before Aesthetics”, which showcases Witmer’s vocal range and a damn near perfect chorus. Witmer begins to slow things down, literally, with the latter half of the album–and it appears to be the weaker part of the album. “If You are the Writer” and “One More Day” are mediocre at best, only to be saved by the Are You a Dreamer-esque sound of “Chesapeake Watershed”.  The “Carry The Weight” acoustic version at the end of the album might actually be better than the ‘original’ version.  So go ahead and tell me what you think. Buy a copy of Carry The Weight.

Listen to “Carry The Weight (Acoustic)”

Listen to “Life Before Aesthetics“