Night Skin is a consuming folk album from Nashville-based artist and multi-instrumentalist Andy Sydow, originally from Louisville, Colorado. His strong songwriting pairs with Anders Osborne’ seamless production for a consuming result, appealing in its reflective lyrical pursuits and cohesive melding of rock and folk stylishness. Also featuring on the album is Casandra Faulconer on bass, Mike Dillon on drums/percussion, and engineer Justin Tocket.
Album opener “In Love and a Hard Luck Sayer” stirs in its calming acoustical drive and lyrical yearning for solace. “Hold me close so I won’t let go, hold me heavy through the ebb and flow, like a song on the radio,” Sydow’s vocals let out, complemented by sporadic doses of twinkling piano. A drive to “find my own way back home,” resonates into layered vocals, and a sense of catharsis as acoustics and keys follow the “with you, this time,” declaration; it’s a beautiful opener to an album with an abundance of enchanting folk successes.
The highlights are in abundance throughout, from the heartrending glistening of new love within “Every Little Thing About Love” to the twangy, soaring rock appeal of “Arizona Dirt.” The latter is an enveloping stylistic separator, embracing a lonesome rock invigoration — “no one really cares if you’re on the highway or in the dirt,” — relative to much of the release’s folk introspection. Whether presenting vigor like that or lush folk gems in the vein of moving title track, Andy Sydow thoroughly impresses across Night Skin.
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“In Love and a Hard Luck Sayer” is also featured in the genre-based, best-of Spotify compilation Emerging Indie Folk. Stream the playlist below:
We discovered this release via MusoSoup, as part of the artist’s promotional campaign.
