David White is a New Jersey, USA-based singer and multi-instrumentalist who has just caught my attention thanks to his new album, a re-invention of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Songs of Travel. It’s called Pioneer.
By Graeme Smith
David has been a musician his entire life. He taught himself to play piano age three, and toured the world as part of The American Boychoir in his youth. He even sang alongside the legendary Beyoncé at the Academy Awards in 2005. As an adult, music is never far from David’s mind and he continues it as a hobby. We’re lucky he does because Pioneer is a wonderful collection.
It all kicks off with Backwards Town, a pop-punk ode to David’s hometown of Flemington. It opens with lively acoustic guitar before kicking into its top gear with electric guitar, bass and drums. David’s vocals are passionate and characterful and his lyrics paint a vivid picture. It’s a great start.
Rainier keeps things rocky, though moves into a more classic realm – think a nature-loving Led Zeppelin. Nothing Compares To You is a Latin-infused ballad based on a dream that David had that his wife had left him. Lullaby For Molly is suitably serene. David’s vocals are truly at their best during this intimate number.
The first half of the album is then rounded off by the lively, experimental Letters From Nowhere, the Soundgarden-esque attack on workplace drudgery Monday and the bright and poppy Okay in Love. A brief A Capella Intermission then brings us to General. Opening with a bass riff, it’s a track that slowly builds and proves to be a storytelling and political highlight which fans of The Decemberists will appreciate.
Beyond The Delaware brings more classic rock swagger before Y channels baroque influences and poetic lyrics. Then it’s the album’s title track Pioneer. It represents David’s sound at its most bombastic, with bellowing vocals, a complex rock arrangement and a sense of wanderlust. It’s another highlight.
The album then closes with a trio of tracks; the romantic Dead Language, Land of Sea and Sun, an ode to Puerto Rico written in the Puerto Rican folk Décima style, and Wake Me When I’m Home, which is delicately acoustic and sees David singing in the Tuvan overtone style during its final moments.
In this album, David brings vintage and modern influences together beautifully. If you’re a fan of classic rock, you’re going to find a lot to love about Pioneer, but there’s also enough freshness about it that those craving something new will enjoy it too. You can listen to the whole album below.