a proof of love?

A follow-up from the critically acclaimed album Hinterland, Old Man Luedecke’s new album captures the ad lib words and feelings of the tender hearted. Recorded in two days flat, Old Man sums up the spirit of the ages and the search for a proof of love in under three minutes each.

Beautifully simple and stripped down, the album glosses over the beauty of the world, nature, and under it all is the theme of individual self-determination. Lyrics such as “I’ve been to the bottom of fear and self-loathing/but this is my home” show both the problems of introspection and the brimming optimism that things invariably get better. “Send my Troubles Away” is a song that bridges the gap between rural life and death by urban streets, complimented by soft female backup singers who have that delicate sing-song quality that makes you want to stretch out on the grass on a warm summer afternoon. Songs like “Sad as a Forest” and “Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier” have the same poetical integrity asIron and Wine, but with the banjo twang adds sharp pep to their otherwise mellow sound. It’s definitely the childlike honesty and simplicity that makes Proof of Love the quintessential, ‘cheery’ kind of album you’d need on these rainy Vancouver days.