A wonderfully woven album release from Patrick Cooper comes through with a classic tonality that's influenced by and seemingly inspired by life itself as the songs get a little personal but tell stories as well and give you little glimpses into the artist's life.
Everything on the Somewhat Live album is delivered with a wondrous character that you find yourself getting attached to very quickly and some of these songs feel like you've been listening to them on classic rock stations for years now.
It feels like these tracks were taken from different live performances and some in-studio dubbing at times but either way, this record certainly makes you want to go see this performed live for sure because it's got a great energy to it and there's something completely warming and welcoming about all of these songs.
The guitar tones are perfect across the board, and not only do you get that classic rock tonality, but you also get glimpses of Americana, folk rock, and more all rolled up into one record and this show is a great diversity and presence for the artist.
This album hits all the sweet spots that a record of its genre should and more and in my opinion, this is one of those records that you want to listen to as a whole as opposed to just a few songs because then you're not really getting the full spectrum of what the record has to offer.
As I said before, there are different approaches throughout the release and with those approaches, you get different vibes as well so some of the songs feel a little bit more emotionally driven than others, but they all do indeed tell stories that are sometimes so detailed you can picture things in your head quite vividly.
This is an artist that's been riding and releasing music for a very long time and you can tell that it's a massive part of his life, and upon listening to this release, I took it upon myself to take a little bit of a deep dive into his previous ones and I'm glad I did because I found some outstanding stuff including a full-length album from 2013 that includes some of the tracks on the Somewhat Live album but in studio.
This record was called Gris Gris In Your Face and indeed serves as a way to go through certain chapters in the artist's life as I mentioned earlier about the new record only it goes a little bit deeper because the album is 13 tracks long and ranges an even wider spectrum of songwriting styles.
There's a wonderful honesty displayed on a lot of his tracks and if you're a fan of classic folk rock with some surprises around the corners and tails to tell, then this is certainly for you.
I certainly hope to hear more from Patrick Cooper soon and on that note, he has actually released several singles after this record and they're all a little bit different and have something fresh to offer.
I would suggest listening to his whole catalog if you get the chance because it's well worth your time.