Dru Cutler - Hometown (2017)

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Written by Lance Wright, posted by blog admin

The release of Dru Cutler’s two song Hometown surprisingly, despite its brevity, solidifies his standing as one of the most promising singer/songwriter musicians working on the indie scene today. He, moreover, shows off the potential to be an important crossover artist – this duo of songs, particularly the title cut, sport a level of melodic excellence and accessibility accentuating his talent for communicating with a broad based audience without ever sacrificing his individuality in an effort to appeal to listeners. The production on both songs is first class and never skimps on detail in favor of sonic muscle. Cutler’s presentation is perfectly balanced and stresses his appealing vocals, but never at the expense of the players. Instead, audiences are treated to two fully realized pieces breathing with color and naturalness certain to attract a lot of attention.

The title track is, easily, the most fully realized and mainstream effort of the two.  The lyrically minded piano playing and Cutler’s vocals are the melodic key to the song, but there’s a generous amount of acoustic guitar and forceful percussion aiding the setting of a tone. There’s some light harmony vocals coming in on the chorus, but the musical elements of the song are strengthened by the merits of the song’s lyrical content. Cutler’s depiction of the sights, sounds, and effects of growing up. There is a slightly melancholy edge permeating his look back, but there’s an equal amount of affection coming through in his voice. He never goes in for cheap pandering – the song’s phrasing maintains a steady vision of how to convey the song’s narrative without ever allowing things to become too theatrical. The chorus has understated power, as well, that Cutler pushes in just the right way.

“Infinite Moons” comes from a much different place. There’s certainly a more overtly artsy edge on the song, but there’s the same ample attention to melody here we heard in the first track. The song never runs on long, but Cutler’s writing incorporates a number of different sections seamlessly interlocking into a greater whole. It begins with acoustic guitar, but the electric guitar plays an important role here as well. There’s a nicely dissonant edge to some of the guitar lines that contrasts nicely with the song’s overall ambiance and the same clarity defining his earlier vocal makes its presence felt here as well. The lyrical content is a little more repetitive than the title song, but the repetition matches up nicely with the arrangement. Hometown is an impressive effort despite its shortness and Dru Cutler’s effortless diverse musicality comes through on every second of each song. His future work promises to be immensely powerful based on these songs.  

Grade: A-