With his unique fingerpicking style, West Virginia-based artist Spencer Elliott joins forces with Sean Sydnor (bass) and Chris Hudson (drums) on his new record “SE3” released 8th of April, 2022 via CandyRat Records. The trio emerges on an epic journey led by Elliott’s progressive acoustic sound that’ll get you 100% entertained.
“SE3” kicks in with the acoustic extravaganza “Torque” announcing its sound loud and clear. It has a groovy heavy sound with an energetic guitar melody, smooth arpeggios and harmonics, and exploding bass. “Silver Maple” comes in with strong dynamics. It has beautiful streams of emotional harmonies with dark vibes and melodies that progresses into heavier groovy sound and then, keeps on swinging between both moods smoothly while keeping the dark vibes intact. With a dreamy intro and mysterious melodies comes “The Tournament”. Like its predecessor, it has swinging dynamics but on this one, it swings from some floating harmonies into a groovy funky upbeat mood with SLAPPIN BASS and skillful fingerpicking. The sound gets rawer on “Joystick” which has a fluid improvisational melody with smoothly shifting dynamics and beautiful harmonies and instrumentation. “Rain Shadow” is where the album gets more complex with the trio unleashing their power right from its porgy heavy TOOLish intro and as it progresses into a more melodic and emotional sound. “Elipsos” comes next with a twist in its sound and production with sharper sounds, heavy phenomenal bass, and raw guitars in a funky groovy mood. Being a stoner rock fan, I expected “4:20” to have some fuzzy sounds, I didn’t get that but, got LOTS OF GROOVE and I’d take that anytime! It is one of my favorite songs off the record with some of the best guitar licks and organic flow. “Insignificant” starts with a bigger sound before it gets to the usual grooves and melodies before it gets heavier then, retreats back into a chilling sound that progresses into a heavier one, and so on. With a spacey/psychedelic intro comes “The Wolf and The Hawk”. It has a different tempo and pace aiming for a more chilling mood than the rest of the record. It has some of the record’s best guitar works and I believe, it should have leveled up to the middle of the record to balance its flow. They end the record perfectly with their best collective work in “There’s Something in the Airlock”. It’s definitely my favorite especially, the beating guitars and percussions.
“SE3” is a full meal of musicianship made by seasoned musicians who has full command of their instruments. The trio managed to create a mix of heavy groovy riffs and heartfelt melodies with a progressive interesting twist. This is totally recommended to any real music fan who wants some good writing and playing. Cheers!
