the owl and the elephant 2010
I would like to firstly write a short introduction to the album and how I will go about writing about it. This is a great album which I absolutely adore. Some of the tracks are stronger than others but overall it is a great experience for the ears. There are a lot of interesting topics that get talked about in this album and some of the songs tell a great, astonishing even, story that can drive me to tears on occassion. An example of this from the album is Every Fallen Feather. It is a slow, but great song which tells the somber story of a love that was never meant to be. I will write in more detail about this track, and my interpretations of it, later on in this post. I would like to end this introduction off by stating that these are all my opinion, thoughts and what I think these songs represent. I mean no offense to the original author, Shayfer James if my opinions miss the mark by a long shot.
Honesty, this track is such a strong start to the album. The slow start up of the drums mixed with the (hidden) message of this song. It gives this album an immedite sense of power and strength. I also really like the instrumentals, the dings in the back (I have no clue what instruments they are) make it feel like it is very disturbed, especially when you hear the piano/vocal part later in the track. It really hammers across the point of this song being from the point of view of a mentally disturbed person (Jim Jones) and that although he believes he is in the right, he most definitely is not.
God how I adore the keys on this track, so simple yet so great. The bells are an awesome addition too in my opinion. I also quite like the lyrics in this song, although they do get a tad repetitive, the way they are sung makes up for this repetition, there is a decent amount of difference in how it is said and layered. Overall I think it is a great song.
This track absolutely switches up the style of this album, the vibe is a lot faster and more intense than the previous song. It feels more like the villain songs he is known for. The instrumentals are great on this track too. Significant work of his.
On first instinct this song makes me feel sad or melancholic. It illicits an emotional response from my brain before I even hear the first lyrics. There are significantly fewer lyrics in this track than previous songs, and it is also a lot slower. Especially in contrast to the prior song, Siren's song. I find this song quite enjoyable though it also makes me a tad bit melancholic, like the air suddenly becomes a lot heavier.
Definite banger. Abolutely awesome tune, this one feels particularly catchy to me. The beats and the lyrics work together so well. And the abrubt ending just feels so fitting.
At first this track feels incredibly raw and coarse, but when you get to the chorus it just feels a lot more polished and smooth. The piano feels almot gentler, even though it is equally present. The lyrics are quite awesome too, but I keep trying to replace them with an alternative patreon version of the song which is even more raw.
This song is a crying fest. It just makes me feel so melancholic. And I have cried to it several times. The gentle, sad tunes. The storytelling in the lyrics. Shayfer James' marvelous voice. It just. It nears perfection. One of my favorite tracks in his discography. It is the perfect rollercoaster of losing a loved one
Amazing track. From the start it feels tense and demands my attention, and I adore the lyric "I'll be the patterns in your ceiling fans as you resist another glass of wine." this lyric is just absolutely amazing, as is this entire track. His voice toward the ending of this track is so amazing too. It works so well, and I wish I could manipulate my voice to hit those tones.
Once more a good track, I love the spooky whistling in the background of this tune, it really helps set the vibe. Although I have few words to say about this track, it is most definitely an awesome track.
A slow song once more, and the vibes are melancholic once more. It just feels sad and tense, which makes me, too, feel sad and tense. Before just giving in to te sadness. Quite a decent ending to the album if I dare be completely honest.
This album is quite awesome, and I quite love it. I also love the images associated with it. They are so crudely done, and yet I love them so much. Overall, this album is up there in the albums I like, which is why I desperately wanted to share my love of it with all of you. It is a melancholic masterpiece with a great mix of faster and slower tracks which I implore all of you to listen to right away.
Red Room Volume 1 (2008)
This EP is an early taste of sorts. It shows off his earliest works and demos in a really rough way.
Awesome track, very swingy and upbeat. I quite enjoy the lyrics too. I am quite sad that this track has yet to properly work its way onto an album as of yet, I would not mind finding out what this masterpiece would sound like with a more modern twist of Shafer James'. Overall an awesome track and a great start to this EP.
A sad song I have sang to my fiance on several occasions. It is a definite banger, and feels romantic in some sick twisted way of that word. It feels aweful and horrendous but sort of warm too. Like someone with the right motivation and their heart in the right spot, but unsure how to go about it. Someone trying to figure it all out as humans do, but doing it completely done in the process. Desending into melodic madness in the end of the track.
Awesome swingy version of this song, I absolutely adore it and cannot get enough of it. I really quite like it, the melodic I do not know what it is called, but the melodic echo noises that happen when he hums are awesome.
Good soup, I do wonder what a fully polished version of this track would have sounded like.
Great version of this song, honestly. Interesting to see how it has changed.
This song. I absolutely love this song. This is probably my favorite song on this EP. I absolutely love it. The lyricism, the piano, the delivery of the lyrics. This is such a hidden masterpiece. And I am so so sad it does not get the love it deserves.
This EP feels so incredibly raw and is an awesome insight into how the songs that ended up seeing releases came to be. I love the fact that we get to see these demos which have never made their ways onto albums too. Especially the track Ghost Town which is far and away my favorite track on this EP. I would wholeheartedly recommend this EP if you like raw music.