KaiL Baxley - Heatstroke/The Wind and the War

You can practically catch a whiff of magnolias and feel the warm humid breeze of the Carolinas on your skin when taking in the impressive debut of modern troubadour KaiL Baxley. With a gentle soul-inflected drawl and musical style that deftly pulls from folk, blues, New Orleans strut and whatever might be construed as languid, southern-styled songcraft, Baxley worked with producer/engineer Eric Come and some stellar L.A. sidemen to craft a pair of EP's: the more sharply outlined, citified and bluesy Heatstroke and the folksy acoustic shamble and more subtle rural flair of The Wind and the War -- both combined for one two-sided long player arriving March 19 on CD (digitally now). There's much to savor here but we'd have to point to "Say Goodbye to the Night" as the standout track, a ticking combination of stunning, instantly memorable melodic hooks, Baxley's weary but impassioned tenor and an sweeping undertow of dramatic strings.

KaiL Baxley - 'Say Goodbye to the Night' (from Heatstroke/The Wind and the War)

KaiL Baxley - 'Legend of the Western Hills' (from Heatstroke/The Wind and the War)

Comments

[Chuck]

Simply love this record. My pick for first single is "Don't Matter To Me" but "Say Goodbye to the Night" wows me too. This guy has a VOICE and SONGS.