William Fitzsimmons - Gold in the Shadow

Three years ago, William Fitzsimmons released his third album The Sparrow and The Crow, a devastating and brilliant confessional retelling of the disintegration of his ten year marriage. While considered a high point of his musical output, the album also reflected an emotional and psychological low for Fitzsimmons and he retreated from writing for two years. Now as the title of his new album Gold In the Shadow (March 22, Nettwerk) would suggest, the soft-spoken performer has emerged from his dark despair and there is light and optimism again in his life. Music and its creation are said to be therapeutic. It takes on an even deeper meaning when it comes from a man who recorded his first two albums at the time he was working as a therapist for the severely mentally ill.

Fitzsimmons candidly describes his new songs as "a real and long coming confrontation with personal demons, past mistakes, and the specter of mental illness that has hovered over me for the great majority of my life." While the lyrical atmosphere is weighty, this is an album focused ultimately on healing. With the tenderest of voices, Fitzsimmons skillfully weaves together folk tapestries of beauty and intelligence, songs that offer expanded production but keep the spotlight on his simply laid out melodies and near-whispered vocals. "The Tide Pulls from the Moon" is a somber folk hymn of delicate guitar and piano textures while the gently upbeat "The Winter from Her Leaving" quietly clicks its heels in a bright shuffle. Gold in the Shadow is also available in a deluxe version featuring a second disc with ten more songs, a mix of acoustic versions and additional songs.

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William Fitzsimmons - "The Tide Pulls from the Moon" (from the album Gold In the Shadow)

William Fitzsimmons - "The Winter from Her Leaving" (from the album Gold In the Shadow)