Kevin Cox - The In​-​Between

​Kevin Cox

​The In​-​Between
self-released; 2017

3.6 out of 5

By Dan Weston

Change and transition is a part of life. Perhaps the biggest transition in a person's life is after they graduate college. The world is wide open with possibility for most and that's all at once daunting and exciting. In a nutshell that is topic of The In​-​Between by Kevin Cox. He found himself in this precarious situation and wrote about it. For that reason alone this album will identify with a younger audience. 

​Musically, the album is a no frills rock album. The setup is very basic consisting of guitar, bass, drums and vocals with some other one off instrumentation like piano. The songs also fall into a general pop category. They are accessible and the sort that would work better on FM radio than on a playlist with Deerhunter and Radiohead. 

The production and delivery is solid. I thought the mixes sound balanced and the dynamics were effective. For the most part they chose a palette and stuck with it. The album isn’t on the skimpy side with thirteen songs that run around four to five minutes each. It’s arguable that this album would have worked better at ten songs. I tried to sit through the album from the beginning and by the tenth song I was fatiguing and needed a breather to refresh my ears.

The backdrop for the album is about transitions but the message is overwhelming motivational. Take for instance “Let It Out” where Cox sings, “It feels like a fall, compacted in a ball. Feels like elation with infatuation. Let it out, let it out “ or “The Shadow” where he sings,“Let the shadow give me hope.”

The songs in general all have a similar vibe as well. Almost all the songs feel reflective, hopeful and nostalgic with fragments of melancholy. Suffice It to say that if you enjoy one song you very likely will enjoy the album. Some of the highlights to my ears were “Reward” and “Always Have.” Cox closes with “Leave the In-Between” which seems to try and give some closure to the questions and concerns he raises. 

Overall, I was impressed and felt the album was very heartfelt. It’s not the most innovative music to come out this year but the songs were enjoyable. Recommended.

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