Artist: Bruce Guyunn
Album: Introspective
Released: 2024
Artist Website: https://bruceguynn.com/
Introspective is the 8th album from prolific singer/songwriter Bruce Guyunn. Over the last 30 years he has performed worldwide and garnered industry honors and significant airplay along the way. This most recent release is an 11 song set of acoustic flavored soft rock gems reminiscent of the 70's legends like Gordon Lightfoot, The Eagles and Jackson Browne. Well crafted compositions with catchy choruses wrapped up into four minute tracks is a winning hand when done like it is on this record.
Real Good Time is a track that is particularly catchy, reminding this writer of ELO. They were a band that was a direct descendant of The Beatles, but had their own stamp on the music. Bruce Guyunn comes at it another musical generation removed from The Fab Four, but still the same gift for a hook. He is clearly influenced by the Laurel Canyon sound that could be heard at The Troubadour in the mid 70's, but still adding something fresh with his own fingerprint.
Like all good Americana music, this album is essentially a gumbo of so many influences that it can't be called anything other than Americana, by default. The first track on the album Do You Remember is a shining example of the many ingredients that went into this production. Jangly acoustic guitars, some slide guitar peppered in for spice and another simple catchy chorus is what makes this a stand out. I think the best songwriters have an innate ability to write lyrics that can mean many things to different people, depending on what their life experiences have been. Guyunn has that ability to draw a vivid black and white picture that the listener can shade with the colors of their own memories.
Oldest Son caught my ear with its surfy guitar intro and abundant reverb. It's a throwback to the earlier days of folk music that was finding its legs in the mid 60's in small clubs in Greenwich Village and on the streets of San Francisco. It is remarkable how the right reverb can take one back in time so easily. This is an easy going guitar driven song that has all the pieces of that time period in all the right places. The guitar is somewhere between spaghetti western and the softer side of surf rock. Most definitely a well executed snapshot in time.
Too Many Moons is another interesting cut. This one has a hint of The Church in it. They had a song in the late 80's called Under The Milky Way that this one reminds me of in all the best ways. Thankfully, Guyunn's song does not have the 80's production that many of the bands from that era are vilified for. That and terrible haircuts keep so much great music from that era standing the test of time. This song would've been right at home on any college radio playlist for the artsy 80's listener, the fan that perhaps found that music through The Cure or REM. But the best stuff was at college radio or on MTV at 3am. This track is a much more organic version of that genre and is my favorite song on the record.
Bruce Guyunn's voice has a natural warmth that simply put, is easy on the ears. He writes well crafted songs that are a bit more pop influenced than a lot of Americana. It is his smooth delivery of a catchy hook that is the main course on this plate. There are lots of cool side dishes here as well that a very competent band has gracefully executed. If you enjoy the sounds of 70's AM radio playlists I think this is a record you will likely enjoy as well.