It's Official - My 8th Album Is In Stores Now!
Post date: Jun 21, 2018 6:35:21 AM
Missing The Boat - Scott Cooley Album Press Release
June 21st, 2018 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE from Grand Blanc: Michigan independent digital record label Scott Cooley Records is pleased to announce the release of award-winning songwriter and solo recording artist Scott Cooley's 8th full-length studio album, Missing The Boat. Containing 13 new original songs, it is available from Amazon in CD format, as well as in various digital formats from Apple Music, Google Play Music, Bandcamp, Spotify, and many more. For those who know the "Jack Johnson of the Great Lakes region" side of Scott (as he was once described), this one packages that up well as opposed to simply having a few of those types of songs interspersed here and there on other albums.
This album's conceptual theme features a more "Buffettesque" quality than recent releases, while delivering what fans expect - great songwriting, the acoustic-instruments- only thing, and the definitive singing and guitar playing styles. A totally individual solo artist effort, everything you hear is a result of Scott acting alone to make his vision a reality, delivering songs that while more on the positive side than usual, still bring you that rebellious attitude and very realistic outlook on life appreciators are often especially delighted by.
For newcomers to Scott's style, this collection of mostly up-tempo Midwest maritime rockers with Caribbean flavor are only slightly tamed by a couple of ballads. As such, in many ways it harkens back to (or is at least reminiscent of) the escapism that can be heard on Cooley's sophomore effort album, Lakeside Landing, released in 2006, which also effortlessly traversed between the nautical and tropical. Without a doubt, it has a similar overall escapist party vibe that is sure to lift your spirits and make you want to get back out on a boat on some water near you soon!
These tracks serve as the bread of the sandwich whose meat is a steady dose of emotions ranging from those you feel in romantic relationships to those you feel with close family and friends...on boats. These songs are obviously written from the perspective of a guy who you would think is in desperate need of (but so looking forward to) a well-deserved vacation, and all the adrenaline that goes with that. Life is never perfect, and this album uses hints of island, beach, and surf music to bring back fond memories of warm places from a cold locale in an almost misery-loves-company way you'll surely relate to and empathize with. Upbeat acoustic rockers will get you revved up like an electric guitar song would, while the happy mid-tempo Hawaiianish and Jamaicanish tunes employ sounds such as acoustic lap steel slide, marimba and hand percussion to give you a sampling of an important part of the Scott Cooley sound, only this time leaving out the country and punk rock influences in favor of the Calypsonian if you will. The folk hints are certainly still present, however, which almost make these songs sound more like mento than true reggae.
Although quite pleasant and hopeful, buried in these simple, peppy tunes is a slightly subversive ugly-can-be-beautiful thread that serves to make it okay to feel depressed and wish for sunnier days in the course of expressing life's struggles and chaos. As a result, the listener is rewarded with a therapeutic release that will ease the worries of the mind. In turn, hearing about how bad others have it can make you focus on possibility of improving your own plight, so just as the blues can cheer you up, so too can Scott Cooley's unique brand of acoustic garage rock music. There's a freedom in this worldview that can become contagiously encouraging.
Missing is the Lenore Cooley accordion heard on past releases, but making more prominent contributions to the Scott Cooley sound are the increased usage of ukulele and piano blended with the staples of acoustic guitar, lap steel slide, acoustic bass, marimba, harmonica and sparse drums and hand percussion. So what you have is an album that is at once rough (with edgy guitar work, the homegrown DIY approach, and harshly honest lyrical perspectives) and polished (with the introduction of piano and improved effects application and mastering). To sum it up, Missing The Boat holds a place in the Cooley catalog where the fun is cranked to eleven, which is just enough of a dangerous departure from the usual fare to add excitement while still delivering the satiety for those craving the basic elements of the Scott Cooley listening experience they've become accustomed to.
Visit www.scottcooley.com/albums/missing-the-boat for complete details.