There’s some stuff I’ll admit to and some stuff I won’t: I’ll admit that I cry at movies. I’ll admit that I will often think for more than a second about shoe selection while picking out an outfit (most dudes don’t). But until today, I would not have admitted that I got choked up listening to music. Well, Bruno Merz’ Departing From Crowds is a great way for me to come clean with myself. This album had me fighting back the vapors, lemme tell ya…
Shut up. I lift weights and watch football, too! Well, except for the last part.
Anyway, Merz clearly studied up on his Nick Drake while crafting his songs, but Departing From Crowds seems somehow more approachable than Drake and artists like him. The content of the lyrics is simple, reassuring, grateful and soothing. Instrumentally you can expect the inclusion of guitars, banjos and some piano, simply and skillfully employed.
The first track “When You Found Me,” is a tear-jerker but not in a sappy, sentimental, Nicholas Sparks kind of way. The utterance of “when you found me/I never knew that I deserved you” is one of the simplest but most profound and moving lines I’ve heard in music. Anyone who has found the love of his/her life knows exactly what the singer means. The instrumentals are simple and thoughtful with some eloquent piano additions. This will be played at many a wedding.
“The Nine Sixteen,” is folkier than the others on the album. There’s a distinct bluegrass feel with the addition of of the banjo plucking over the chords of the guitar. The lyrics questioning “where is home?” is essential folk, but it’s inserted so smoothly into the song that one doesn’t feel beat over the head with the genre.
This is a good one–not just for making a playlist for that gal you’re crushing on (quite good for that though, fellas)–but as an example of well done music. Take a listen to these couple tracks and add Merz to your “must haves” in folk.
