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Tyrone is a guy who does it all, co-starting his own record label, Graven Records as well as recording his first length album, Streetlights and Stars which includes a variety of references to his environment giving off a very Canadian-esque style to his songwriting.

Warner is way too shy and should give himself credit. One of my favorite tracks is “Singer-Songwriter Anthem” while the title itself is ironic to the content, as it takes some arrogance to call a song an anthem but it lives to that sentiment. On this track the lyrics are as follows:

I am a singer-songwriter, I strum my guitar and I play,
Got a handful of chords and a couple of words,
Put together make me feel like I’m complete.

And if I’d show you my heart, it’s all ragged and worn,
Loved so hard and so strong and so deep,
That’s why I hide it away, I’m afraid of the pain,
And what you’d see if I’d stand in the light.

I am a jaded old news man, seen all the worst that mankind can do,
Every single day it’s just more words on the page,
A headline, a lede and some truth.

I am a traveling showman, I live and I die up on stage,
Got a bag full of tricks that I’ll use if I wish,
To make you feel entertained and alive.

The song has a slow country/blues riff throughout the song while Tyrone just sings wonderfully. The main thing I feel for in this song is a sense of insecurity, that fear to open up mixed with the desire to perform and finding that perfect middle ground. I can’t say enough about this track, so simplistic yet so much more complicated with and without looking at the lyrics. There’s just a level of modesty that Tyrone has after speaking him that is unnecessary, telling me that it was an “honor you took time to listen to a few tracks”. I ended up taking almost 2 months to do this review (lol) but in all seriousness, The Silver Speakers are worth your time.

While Warner is in all intents and purposes a folk artist, he stands out as someone unique with the ability to create a great song without much anesthetic. I don’t have any comparisons to throw out to you, I know folk-artists are a dime a dozen but artists like Tyrone should be part of the cream of the crop that I personally find to be rare.

After reading the lyrics and listening to the songs (sometimes a luxury I don’t have is reading lyrics), I was a little surprised at how short some of the lyrics were. Wagner masterfully stretches them out into 5-minute tracks that do not get boring. Some artists have the trouble of having songs drawn out too slowly, but everything on Streetlights and Stars just seems to have that perfect medium. Considering that this a no-fi/lo-fi record, much is accomplished with simplicity.

Another thing with this record that makes it something special is that it gets better with each subsequent listen. I usually critique folk artists harder because it’s pretty cut and dry a lot of the time compared to other genres so I first started at a lower rating and I’ve kept bumping it up and up as I go along.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5
Singer-Songwriter Anthem by Silver Speakers

Are You Only In My Head by Silver Speakers

Joshua (You Left) by Silver Speakers

Tags: album