PT Walkley

PT Walkley? A random add on Twitter who I stumbled across. He dropped me a line and BAM! I’ve discovered a true hidden gem.
Referring me to his musical homepage in songbook format, he suggested that I listen to a track called “Why”. On the page, the lyrics are also listed and I thought I’d have a quick glance before a listen and wow!
“Why am I so frightened by the little things, the bed bugs, the wedding rings” and “The water cooler’s echoing” are just some of the great, great lines to this song. These words aren’t dressed up or fancy. They’re real. It’s a song to relate to. It’s human; in feeling and thought. And so just from this, I knew before I even hit the play button that I’d be impressed.
The sound is chilled back, and has that sunny summer vibe, as given off by Devendra Banhart and Mr. Jack Johnson. It’s kinda “sweet”, whilst at the same time being one of those funky songs you’d expect to hear on an ad for mobile phones; the kind that everyone flocks to download the song (like Jose Gonzalez with “Heartbeats”).
After hearing the intriguing “Why”, I was compelled to scan the rest of the songbook and found that the songs were produced in NYC (I personally feel NYC is becoming the homeland of all great music, as it never fails to produce or promote great artists, as evidenced here).
The whole feel of the songs uploaded is that it’s soft and gentle, not aggressive or offensive; you can just get lost in it and get carried away. “Audrey Macy” is a bouncy upbeat, to get your feet goin’ to; sounding much like “The Coral”, and once more it’s rather cool, what with the injections of energy being supplied by the electric guitar. Again, summery, and by the time the “la la la’s” kick in you’ll already be singing along.
“No one Needs to Know” opens with a sincere and a collaborative (musically) intro, and it’s absolute antithesis, it’s hushing and melancholy, but there still remains a consistent and underlying uplifting tone.
He certainly is an artist. It’s as though he has a blank canvas and then all of a sudden, there’s a swash of colour and music, as he paints emotions and images in word and song; all good for the soul.
From further listening, I hear glimpses of Ryan Adams and then queue “Daydreaming”. The fiddle is truly impressive in terms of being epic, picturesque and endearing. This is my highlight of the bunch, having never heard anything quite like it before. It’s a truly great love song, seeming to translate all thought and feeling onto record.
By this point I’m thinking just why haven’t I heard of him before (outrage!), and just where can I get hold of an album! His lyrics are just outstanding’ they’re tales, they’re fitting, they’re moving, they’re descriptive and wonderful and you’ll be in awe of them.
With bags of talent and maximum potential, other resemblances which come across are that of Jeff Buckley (on track “Run”), BRMC, and Wilco, whilst still managing to have his own concept and sounds.
“Calvin” is somewhat of a theatrical piece; it’s a story and full of energy and piano notes, until getting softer as the sentimental part of the song comes into play, and now sounding similar to “The Thrills”, and “Albert Hammond Jr.” which is ironic as Walkley sings in Mediocre: “The Strokes wrote a decent love song, I wish I could too”. Oh but you do! His songs are nothing but heartwarming! And then we hear a more ballsy track in “Punch Drunk” and vocals which sound like a young Johnny Cash, it’s country and rock and sounds mighty fine.
I think this songbook idea is excellent, and he should definitely keep it going, updating it and so forth, so that others like me can make the amazing discovery of his music which they can enjoy in their full entirety. I’ve really never came across anything quite like his music and ideas, and it’s to be applauded. Check PT Walkley out at: http://ptwalkley.com/song-book.