The follow-up to his acclaimed EP Songs of Delay released earlier this year, Chansons de Parade is another exquisitely crafted collection of songs from Joe Sampson, with an uncanny ability to quietly get under your skin. While drawing from the musical spirit of Simon & Garfunkel, Iron & Wine, and Low, the songs on Chansons de Parade sound familial rather than familiar. Combining haunting yet playful lyrical narratives, a mesmerising road-worn baritone vocal, and a delicious melodic sensibility, these nine songs feel like long-term friends from the first listen. The music’s intimacy, gently lilting country slant and spacious, restrained instrumentation add depth and resonance to Sampson’s rustic folk influences.
Since his childhood days singing in his family’s barbershop quartet, up through his years collaborating with celebrated musicians like Nathaniel Rateliff and Esme Patterson, Joe Sampson has steadily sharpened his sound and style, becoming one of Denver’s most celebrated songwriters. After being named Westword’s Songwriter of the Year in 2008, the alt weekly described his work as “combining the emotional weight of acoustic breakup albums like Beck's Sea Change or Ryan Adams' Heartbreaker with an aw-fuck-it humour.”
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