Family Average: 5/7

Floaty and free we bounce into another folky tune. Today’s track comes to us from Stephen Babcock. A person who I recently learned shares a the same name as a famous botanist (Stephen Moulton Babcock). Much like his fellow Stephen Babcock, our Stephen Babcock has close ties with the natural world. What could be more natural than a love song, or even better a sad love song? It’s a folky strumming, finger picking good time all around with his latest single. And I bet everybody is dying to see what the family had to say.

Listen along on Spotify and read on to find out:

There is something inherently nice and wholesome about a guy and his guitar, waxing poetic about the girl he loves. Albeit sometimes twee, Babcock toes the line pretty well. His personality and authenticity comes through in his music. With relatable and accessible lyrics, Babcock is a singer-songwriter that nods to bluesy, Americana, and folk influences. His voice has a rustic quality that can skew more twangy and country, or alt and pop, depending on the song. As such, the tracks have some variation, but largely keep it pretty tame. This is the sort of music that’s gonna be a crowd pleaser; inoffensive and easy to listen to. A similar vibe to John Mayer, Jason Mraz, or Matt Nathanson.  All in all, not totally my type of music, but definitely something to put a smile on your face while having coffee at the local cafe.

4/7

I think this is the reason I bought a guitar. I wanted to make sounds like this. Then I found out my voice sucked and calluses take forever to form. Stephen seems to have it figured out though. Make a pretty song, with a touching message. Got to say the lyrics were just a bit too sweet for my cynical soul. Still this did not hinder my fascination with this tune. It was immediately thrown on to a summer good time playlist. I actually caught his set at rockwood a few week ago. Happy to say I enjoyed both instances. Although the live experience was an added layer of warmness that I would love to get another peek at. Hope you are feeling better mr. Steve. I hope this song helps to calcify the sad feelings you have.

5/7

Oh wow, a Bright Eyes or Avette Brothers meets a slightly more country twist in Stephen Babcock’s “The Guy that Says Goodbye to You is Out of His Mind”. Kinda too long of a song name there Steve, but I forgive you. I’m all about love-lusty rambles over sweet lullaby guitar pickings, and that’s just what you get with this one. While the song lacks metaphors or any hints of cleverness—he pretty much just says it like it is—I still got that lil choke in the back of my throat I get when I listen to a good, sad song. “You don’t need to change a thing about you, from where I stand you’re one of a kind.” Now who wouldn’t wanna hear that once in a while!?

Can’t wait to hear more from this guy, perhaps live sometime in NYC.

5/7

When you have a song that’s got no excess frills, you need to make sure that whatever you do have works well. This song is a good example of how sometimes all you need to make a song work is a guitar and a voice. The description was right, it does have a southern-ish vibe to it, like his singing has that traditional twang. And it’s got that comfortable, but melancholy and world-weary mood. Like a pair of boots that have seen their fair share of walking and work. It’s a song that has a mild façade, but you can feel there’s a lot of emotion and heart swelling underneath the surface. The lyrics weren’t too moving in and of themselves, but it was rather the way in which they were sung that gets to you. The emotion shines through the strongest in the guitar though.
One thing I would like to see in the next song is a better recording quality. This one’s just a little bit muffled but nothing too detrimental.

5/7