This fine artist is new to these ears and comes as a very welcome discovery. Robert Sarazin Blake has been releasing music for many years and this represents the 11th recording of his career. The ten songs here are very impressive in their acoustic feel and vocal delivery. Sounding like Jim Croce on a number of the tracks, the storytelling style and reflective mood of the writing is perfectly complimented by the arrangements and production.
There are personal observations on a life lived, the road not taken, family business, bohemian lifestyles and nostalgic regret scattered throughout the tracks. Kicking off with a clever Irish melody woven into the song Dingle to Tralee, Robert Sarazin Blake is joined by Anais Mitchell on vocals for Our Winter in New York and really hits stride on the tracks Joy and New Life, both songs tinged with a mature and sympathetic view of the frailties that make up the people we meet and the relationships that just cannot endure.
However, it is on the closing song, Ghosts of Bedford Avenue that things really climax with a superb performance and delivery across thirteen minutes that reflects on a tired acceptance of change, the trap of memories and the view that you can’t go home again; only keep moving in a forward direction. This artist is highly recommended.