ARTiST: Joe Whyte
ALBUM: Devil In The Details
BiTRATE: 205kbps avg
QUALiTY: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.97 Final / -V2 --vbr-new / 44.100Khz
LABEL: Bridge & Tunnel Records
GENRE: Rock
SiZE: 64.39 megs
PLAYTiME: 0h 41min 34sec total
RiP DATE: 2007-10-22
STORE DATE: 2007-10-05
Track List:
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01. This Foolish Heart 3:56
02. Let Me Down 3:26
03. Devil In The Details 4:35
04. Mercury 3:59
05. Linden To L.A 3:39
06. Wrecking Ball 3:36
07. No More 2:45
08. Out Of Tune 4:36
09. Just In Case 3:03
10. It's About Time 3:47
11. Ring Around The Moon 4:12
Release Notes:
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With his new album Devil In The Details, New York singer/songwriter Joe Whyte
contributes his own slant to the ever-expanding genre of Americana. The album
kicks off with "This Foolish Heart," an up-tempo track built on jangly mandolin
and fiddle. The music provides a worthy backdrop for Whyte's distinctive voice,
which falls somewhere on the spectrum between Jesse Malin and Ryan Adams. In
fact, much of the material on Devil is reminiscent of early Whiskeytown. As far
as production is concerned, the musical choices were intelligent ones. Whyte is
backed by an ensemble of capable musicians (I counted 14 in the liner notes) who
contribute various sounds to an album of consistent quality, and Whyte navigates
confidently through songs with an assuredness that never approaches pretense.
Lyrically, Whyte relies on old stand-by's, or what I like call "relational
dysfunction and black widowisms." In other words, he writes a lot of songs about
screwed up relationships and soul-sucking women. On "This Foolish Heart," Whyte
muses "From the look of those scars and the gun you're waving/ one of us won't
be leaving here alive." While many of the songs are up-tempo sing-a-longs, Whyte
provides listeners with respite on slower songs like "Out Of Tune" and "Ring
Around The Moon." Ultimately, the album is a cohesive collection of alt. country
pearls that shimmer with simplicity and effectiveness. Devil In The Details will
be available for purchase on October 9, and you can purchase Joe's last album
The Lower 48 on iTunes. -- Capt. Obvious
Royce Wagner - Captain Obvious (blog) (Oct 3, 2007)
"I want to hear more...a little reminiscent of Ryan Adams, which is pretty
stratospheric company...I think Joe Whyte is the sh*t...the guyÆs got it going
on from the writing perspective, he sounds fantastic. Check him out!"
Ray Randall - Americana Roots (podcast) (Sep 27, 2007)
If your bag is radio-friendly, accomplished Americana with easy hooks and
time-tested kind of melodies, then hey, go give an ear to Joe. First time round,
Joe brought out an album in 2005, The Lower 48, which coincided with live
appearances at the Carlsberg Rhythm & Roots Festival in Kilkenny, where he
opened for Son Volt among others. So now, in a similar gambit, Joe's follow-up
full-length CD is being released here to coincide with a handful of dates he's
playing in Ireland, Scotland and London very shortly. Most of the time there's
an upbeat and optimistic up-tempo gait to Joe's music, with a straightforward
backbeat and attractive electro-acoustic setting, but I warmed more readily to
the more stripped-down cuts like No More and the plaintive Out Of Tune and Ring
Around The Moon. Generally tho', Joe's music is that of a true all-rounder in
terms of appeal: he's a real good singer, he's got a solid backing band
(including Brian Bassett, Jason Cade, Dan Nachimson and Dan Marcus), he's
obviously totally committed to making music, and his songs slip down like a good
session beer û consistently tasty and suitably thirst-quenching, but not so
strongly-flavoured or heady as to get you drunk and maybe spoil things. Can't
fault that - right? - David Kidman (October 2007)
David Kidman - Netrhythms.co.uk (Oct 16, 2007)
"***** (5 stars) & Artist of the Month"
Pete Harris - Indie Sounds NY, August 2007
"Joe Whyte is the best alt-country artist I've ever heard at TAXI (and I've
heard alot)...Great songs. Both thumbs way up...These songs contain the essence
of what is good about alt-country music...This is excellent Americana
music...This is flat-out killer from head to toe...confident vocals and solid
arrangements...there is true artistry at work here...the writing is
first-rate...it has an intriguing & appealing vocal character and the band
sounds great...really well-written songs with extremely engaging musical
arrangements and irresistable melody lines...great voice and well-structured
songs with interesting, clever lyrics...Excellent work...these tracks all sound
radio-ready. What's not to like??!!"
- TAXI
"...there's no dispute that Joe has a fine distinctive voice...in 'Let Me Down'
Joe breaks out of the singer-songwriter angst that grips some Americana these
days - the best song on the record...a good all-rounder, full of pep"
- Americana UK
"This guy sure has a great voice...I have no idea if he is very
well-known, but as for his voice, musical frame-work and song writing this chap
really scores...I can't write anything else other than that I cannot find ONE
weak moment. A voice that is very pleasant to listen to, that reminds me a bit
of the voice of Jesse Malin...he does what he likes to do and you can hear that
he is loving it a lot. Nothing wrong with that, I suddenly realize. As it
happens, it is making me love it too!"
Jan Janssen - Real Roots Cafe, Netherlands
He has a beautiful voice and a great group of musicians in his band. The sound
is very professionalàôLet Me Downö is beautiful, straight-up Americana. ôOut of
Tuneö is a tearjerker with strong vocals and great pedal steel workàôJust In
Caseö is a melodious country-ballad which mixes tones of The Jayhawks with Jesse
Malin and Whiskeytown in which the beautiful, passionate and expressive voice of
Joe Whyte is allowed to soar. The subjects of the songs are a mix of love and
loveÆs sorrow, pain and depression, in short everything necessary to drag the
listener in to the stories of the songs. Usually after an EP quickly comes a new
CD. Hurry up. Joe!! û Rootstime.be (translated from Dutch)
Freddy Celis - Rootstime.be (Jan 8, 2007)
"...lovely, lulling, softly soothing and sonorous...supremely subtle
beauty...one of the most moving and reassuring albums we've heard in quite a
while."
- Jersey Beat