The Long Way Home is everything existing Graeme James’ fans and newcomers to his music could hope for. Thoughtful lyrics, beautiful and carefully nuanced production, and enough catchy, foot tapping tracks to satisfy any radio programmer.
James plays all the instruments himself and does an excellent job with all of them. Bass, mandolin, guitar, percussion, fiddle (and more) feature and his impressive clarity of vision as producer keeps all the elements in balance to create a thoroughly well executed and well-paced album.
Night Train provides a strong, rhythmic beginning, showcasing James’ lovely vocal timbre and range. While The Times Are Changing is the first single from the album, it’s the central trio of tracks; The Long Way Home, To Be Found By Love and Western Lakes which are the standouts for me.
Western Lakes in particular is simply exquisite. “Sometimes our words are not enough, there’s silence to observe”, sings James, and it is perhaps the way that James creates a sense of spaciousness in this track that makes it so very evocative.
The Long Way Home is a gorgeous, highly listenable album that many will love. May it soar; it surely deserves to do so.
Folk singer-songwriter Graeme James didn’t decide on a life in music until it seemed his very existence depended on artistic gifts. In 2012, circumstances outside his control essentialized his life and he found himself sleeping in his car and busking by day to get by. There and then he made the fateful decision to leap into the unknown and pursue a life as a professional musician. Now, four albums in, the New Zealand artist is firmly entrenched in this life path. Yet, he remains reflective of the emotional and physical transience of the path. In the 6 months before relocating to Europe in mid 2018, Graeme recorded his latest album, The Long Way Home. His Nettwerk debut is a warmly insightful, lushly layered modern folk album.
“This album has a calm-before-the-storm perspective. It was written before leaving New Zealand when I felt like had no idea what the future held which was both terrifying and exciting. Uncertainty definitely makes for good songs,” Graeme says with a good-natured laugh.
Graeme is a critically-acclaimed artist rooted in folk’s rich storytelling and musical traditions. He furthers the lineage with an imaginative textural approach in which he carefully crafts multi-instrumental soundscapes. Graeme’s dynamically layered compositions feature him playing violin, electric violin, guitar, bass, baritone ukulele, mandolin, harmonica, percussion, and beatboxing. He produces his own albums, and he faithfully recreates his textural tunes live in real time with a loop pedal. To date, Graeme has issued a pair of endearingly quirky cover albums; a record of all originals; and now, his first label release, The Long Way Home. Graeme’s self-released debut album, News From Nowhere (2016), has garnered awards and critical acclaim back home. He is one of New Zealand’s most streamed indie artists, and his shows regularly sell out. Graeme’s total Spotify plays surpass 20 million, with most of these streams coming from outside of his native New Zealand.