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Non-Prog CD Reviews

Spencer LaJoye

Shadow Puppets

Review by Gary Hill

I am wandering into tricky territory here, and will do my best to get it right without offending. The artist who created this music uses “they” as their pronoun. That said, the vocals align with a female gender. Similarly a guest vocalist on one track has a voice that is distinctly masculine, although I don’t know what that person’s actual gender is. It’s tricky for me to respect someone’s identity while also describing the way the voice sounds. Let me say that musically this is very much built around Americana. There is a definite singer-songwriter vibe. It has a lot of country and roots music in the mix. It’s also compelling and powerful. It’s a strong release no matter how you label anything or anyone.

This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2025  Volume 4. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2025.
Track by Track Review
Shadow Puppets

 Americana based, this is an energetic cut with a lot of emotion and charm built into it. The vocal performance really sells it, but the musical arrangement, with its multiple layers of instrumentation is pretty magical, too.

Chaotic Neutral

While this still has plenty of country music in the mix, it’s more of a rocker. I love the D&D theme to the title, too. This is another solid tune.

The Art of Feeling Lonely

A mellower piece, this has some intriguing electronic elements among the Americana arrangement. This is another solid example of pop rock music. I really love the vocal arrangement on this tune. It really stands out.

Good Man

I like the energy and groove of this. It’s a roots based rocker that has a lot of charm and style.

How Are You

A more balladic cut, this has Americana and other roots sound built into it, but it also has hints of space and more.

Reverie

Part ballad, part powered up tune, this is more pure roots music. It has plenty of energized territory, though.     

Convents

A male-sounding vocal provides a very different opening on this folk based number. It turns to more of a duet at times, but that voice (Spencer Mackey) holds a large percentage of the track. This has some great symphonic string work, too. It’s a nice piece of variety.

The Joker

Here we get another piece of balladic roots music. I like this, but it’s not really standout. It does turn to more of a power ballad later that rocks more.  It gets almost proggy as it continues.

Serial

Built largely around keyboards and vocals, this track is mellow, but also dramatic. It provides a change from a lot of the rest here. It also feels rather electronic in a great way. I’d consider this to be a highlight of the set.

Surgery

An acoustic guitar based tune, this varies between more rocking and mellower sections. There are symphonic strings in the arrangement at times, lending magic. This is another classy piece of music.

Someday You'll Wake Up Okay

The multi-layered vocal arrangement on this is so strong. The cut has a good energy and groove, too. This is all class. It’s a bit more of a mainstream rocker, too.

Forgiveness

Piano and vocals are on the menu here. Those two elements remain as the only things on display here. There is a sadness to this song, and a finality to it. It does make for a good closer.

 
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