Adam Zwig
Visions of the Shimmering Night
Conscious Records Music, 2013
Adam Zwig performs breezy indie-folk which will make you feel familiar and at ease. These acoustic harmonies come ready made for consumption and your audio indulgence.
It would be disengenuous to dismiss Zwig out of hand as a musical mimic or someone deeply imitating a inspiration, but to simply acknowledge, Zwig is pop smart and isn’t going to dismiss a catchy hook out of hand.
Because it’s folk there will automatically be Dylan and Neal Young references, but Dylan has passed fifty years performing, it’s a long shadow to avoid for anyone holding an acoustic gutar and telling a story. This said, “Many Worlds” opens with a glassy and sparkling guitar part, and with a sweeping colours Zwig paints a long journey into the ether.
“I Remember You” is about an honest reflection of a low as one could ever expect to hear admitted, “In my darkest hour of need/all good is forgotten.” His voice bears a frustrated wariness.
“I Shall Be” is an optimistic refrain of impending good fortune due to arrive at any moment. This isn’t wishful thinking. This is a promise from the one person capable of making it all happen.
“Waiting on Heaven (to Make Your Move)” feels profoundly humane as Zwig attempts to make sense of time when your forced to wait. This ought to be all over radio immediately. This is the sort of rock-steady, sensible pop which never goes out of style, ever.
Ultimately there’s a hopeful quality to Adam Zwig’s music. Upbeat and sunny, lighthearted, he doesn’t have time for trite and tiresome negativity. Not today, not tomorrow. Not this guy.