Peter Lawson - Damaged

Peter Lawson

Damaged
​self-released; 2020

3.8 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

Damaged is a recent release from Peter Lawson. This album which is one of many if you go on his Bandcamp page is varied in terms of tone and color. It’s a guitar heavy album with catchy vocal melodies. This allowed my attention to land where it wanted to and I found myself concentrating on certain elements and then switching to others.

“Already Dead” is the opener and does contain vocals. This song has some attitude and felt like a mix between country and rock. It’s badass for lack of a better world. The song is covered in a lot of reverb which does give it a distinct quality.

“Damaged” is quite different and is more atmospheric, serene and tranquil. The elements float about and feel like they are living on a cloud. I really liked the vocals on this song. “Monkey on my Back” is a song that drives but also is very melodic. It was one of the songs that was instrumental and fairly balanced in terms of where my attention was. The guitars which are smothered in reverb and delay don’t float away because of the driving drums.

“Play for Today” is almost felt like an extension in terms of mood but there are some vocals in this song. I was getting a Neil Young vibe on “The Evolution Show” which was one of my favorite songs. I heard more of an Americana genre on this song. “The Waiting Game” sounds a bit like “Sweet Home Alabama” and was in my opinion the best song on the album. The vocal hook was immediately memorable and this was also one of the better mixed songs on the album.

There are some post-punk type elements on “The Nation's Health.” It’s a very cool song with some of his best vocals. We are greeted with a warm ballad on “Winter's Ghosts” while the closer “Window Washer” is even warmer and inviting.

The mixing has improved from the previous album I reviewed. I do have one trick he might want to utilize and that’s EQing reverb tails. On some of the songs I felt there was a little bit of congestion. You can make some space by cutting some frequencies usually between about 200hz and 500hz.

​Overall, this is the best I’ve heard from the artist and I look forward to hearing his next one.

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