Album Review: David Vertesi – Cardiography

Every year there are a couple albums that catch you off guard, the type of album that when you here it you are instantly impressed. David Vertesi’s debut solo album Cardiography is one such album. Vertesi may be best known as the bass player in Vancouver indie band Hey Ocean!, he is no slouch when it comes to his solo endeavors. In a music scene that can be filled with artists sounding too creative, too different, or too pretentious, this album is like a much needed breath of fresh air.

His songs touch on the topic of love countless times throughout the album, but not in an eye rolling inducing I’ve heard this all before type of way. “Gentleman Say” talks about breaking the heart of a lady. Or talking about the lessons learned in the game of life from past lovers such as in “Cardiography”. Even the song title “Hearts Don’t Break, People Do” shows that this album touches on deep subjects of the heart. They are the type of songs that are easy to listen and relate to since they are more realistic than the hollow lyrics of so many love songs clogging up the airways.

Considering this album is primarily driven by vocals and acoustic guitars in that singer/songwriter fashion, David has done a great job of creating an arrangement of songs that keep the listeners attention through dynamic shifts. It starts off with the fun and poppy “Mountainside” featuring Hannah Georgas’ vocals. The lead single “All Night, All Night, All Night” features David’s simple yet powerful lyrics, guitar, angelic backing vocals, and soft drums. It also shifts to the slow building track of “Learn to Run” which much like running starts off slow and soft. By the end of the track it melts into a hold nothing back emotional outburst of vocals as the song comes to a close. Towards the end of the album, the blast of brass instruments greats the listener on “Soft Skin” in an upbeat manner. This mixture of sounds are able to grab hold of the listener from beginning to end. If you’re looking for a well rounded and well put together album, look no further than Cardiography.

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