Tom Brosseau’s America

Earlier this year, I caught the second half of a particularly bewitching set from a guy called Tom Brosseau. He was opening for Robert Ellis, and though I had never heard of him, his sound stuck with me. Brosseau’s new record North Dakota Impressions was recently released and should not be missed, as it’s one of this year’s most under the radar gems. It’s a quiet folk record with deep Americana roots, and it plays like a travelogue through time. And though it’s the third installment in a trilogy of records Brosseau began putting out two years ago, it is a fine record on its own.

Brosseau has one of those strangely beautiful, androgynous voices, like Christopher Denny. It has an old world quality to it, and the tone is compelling and rich, soothing and soft. Recorded with a sparse aesthetic – acoustic and imperfect – North Dakota Impressions is intimate. Brosseau writes of feeling a complication connection to home and drifting about. His songs are scenic and captivating, like gazing out a window on a long drive, past water, forests and mountains.

“No Matter Where I Roam” is a classic folk troubadour song about laying down roots and then leaving, again and again. It has a repetitive background melody that drives the song, as Brosseau recounts visceral details of tastes, sights and sounds from the past. There’s a folkloric quality to these songs. “A Trip to Emerado” is a spoken word song in which Brosseau tells us a detailed story of a place and its people, as he goes for a ride with his grandma Lillian on a county road in a long, brown Cadillac. All the while, the acoustic guitar keeps time. And “Fit To Be Tied”, about an endless search for answers in love, listens like an old classic folk song.

North Dakota Impressions is an honest record from a man who’s seen the country and lived some life and wants to share it candidly and without unneeded flourish. It’s pure and simple, but you won’t be able to forget it.