Will Samson - Paralanguage (2019) [Hi-Res]

'Paralanguage' was inspired by Samson's first and only - experiments with psilocybin. There's a conspicuously tender thread running through the album's eight songs, from ''Calescent', its eloquently poignant opener, to 'Lacuna's' fuzzy nostalgia, from 'Beyond the Dust's' sweet serenity to 'The Smallest Sliver's' redemptive fragility. Samson's voice, too, has never sounded more moving, committed or confident, his yearning falsetto as touching as his gentle tenor - comparisons to Sufjan Stevens and Patrick Watson are not inappropriate - while his arrangements are intricate yet never ostentatious, with precisely detailed programming inseparable from the warmth of his analogue instrumentation. 'Perhaps', Samson observes, 'It's a reflection of feeling more centred and grounded'.