Clarence Bucaro - Walls of the World

Clarence Bucaro - Recalling the laid back folk/soul vibe of early Van Morrison and the pensive and personal lyricism of Jackson Brown, the Brooklyn-based tunesmith has quietly carved out his own special niche of singer/songwriter: a strumming acoustic romanticism tempered with a classic R+B undercurrent of Hammond B3 fills, rhythmic bass lines and gospel inspired harmonies...New highly personal and politically inspired fifth album is his first since 2009's exquisite Til Spring // Release: Walls of the World (April 3, 20/20) // Sounds like: New album taps two producers -- Hector Castillo (David Bowie, Björk, Rufus Wainwright) and Mark Anthony Thompson (aka Chocolate Genius) -- for a revealing dichotomy of styles: Castillo's rich, organic sound and Thompson's penchant for moody electronics...Bucaro says the songs came also from two different times and perspectives, fueled by an eye-opening trip to the middle-east and then by the birth of his first child...

Quote: On his second flow of new material:  “These songs were written after having my son and my perspective changed as I saw how having a child fits into a conflicted and divided world. So the two perspectives of the album became a marriage of observing the outside world with how it ties in to my personal own world.” // What we like: "Child of War" is a stunning song of enormous lyrical power, a sonic mix of dirty reverbed guitar lines, ominous shuffling rhythm section and Bucaro's weary, quietly impassioned vocals -- by the time you hear the line "why does a child strap on bomb", you know you're already in some special territory..."Dangerous Secret" tackles the subject of a close friend's gender identity issues (listen here)...the SoCal country/rock-inspired "Malibu" sounds lifted from some long-lost Eagles or Jackson Browne album from the 70's...

Clarence Bucaro - "Child of War" (from Walls of the World)

Clarence Bucaro - "Malibu" (from Walls of the World)

Photo Credit: Todd Heisler