You probably know the name Vance Joy from his breakout single, "Riptide"—an excellent piece of ukulele-driven folk-pop that found major chart success—to the point of being the top song on the Billboard Alternative Songs Chart, to be exact. Now, Vance is back with his debut album, Dream Your Life Away, and as the title suggests, it's a whimsical, wide-eyed affair, clocking in around 50 minutes of pure folk-pop exuberance. It's unquestionably a strong debut for Vance Joy (real name James Keogh), and its release will surely see his continued success. At first glance, it would seem that Keogh owes much of his sound to such popular folk-rock revivalists as Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers, and Of Monsters & Men, to name just a few. All the signs are there: rhythmic guitars, stomping percussion, and a healthy sprinkling of earnestly sung lines permeate Dream Your Life Away's homespun texture. Songs like "Mess is Mine" and "We All Die Trying To Get It Right" are textbook Mumford-esque material, but take our comparisons in stride, because DYLA is anything but a Mumford & Sons tribute record. Rather, the album shows flashes of unique songwriting brilliance in quite a few places. On tracks like the spirited "Winds of Change", and, of course, "Riptide", Keogh shows a particular ability for writing truly infectious tunes that don't sound quite like anybody else. He also shows that he doesn't need incessant guitar-jangling and melodramatic howling to prove that he's sincere. In fact, the tracks that abandon the strums and stomps that are his most effective. Take the lovely ballad "Georgia", for example. It wonderfully showcases Keogh's distinct songwriting voice, utilizing more understated instrumentals in order to draw attention the song's gorgeous melody. It's a disarmingly beautiful bit of folk, and it clearly demonstrates that Keogh is most successful when he lets the music speak for itself. Overall, Dream Your Life Away is a cheerful and very memorable album. Keogh's songwriting talents shine brightly on the record, and the few weaker efforts there are are thankfully steered away from the realm of emotional bombast (a common landmine of the folk-rock landscape). The excellent numbers, too, serve to establish Vance Joy as a musical force to be reckoned with, and it's advised that you give this album a spin to enjoy all the great content found within. Dream Your Life Away is available on iTunes now.
Vance Joy