Dressing Like A Stranger is the new album from LA-based Londoner Luke Sital-Singh.
It`s his forth studio album, the follow-up to 2019’s `A Golden State` and a release that had some numbers co-written with Ben Cramer, a.k.a. Old Sea Brigade.
The album opens with title track `Dressing Like A Stranger` which according to the singer is “about looking back at yourself and noticing the ways you’ve changed and what has and hasn’t changed you,” he continues. “In retrospect, it sounds like I was exploring how I had changed or not changed since moving to LA. Have I changed or do I just wear different clothes because it’s hot?” It`s a quite gentle introduction with a captivating guitar resonating throughout which apparently the singer purchased from Silver Lake’s Old Style Guitar Shop in Los Angeles. We have in `Blind Missiles` a number that the singer wrote “about polarisation, feeling tired with the constant attacks from one group to another and the lack of empathy and understanding, and feeling at odds with the world. around me as a Brit living in the US, feeling overwhelmed and disconnected from US politics, confused as to where I fit in the picture.” It`s another mellow melodic track where you can almost sense the confusion and bewilderment in the vocal delivery.
There are comparisons made between the artists life in L.A. contrasted with his former home in the UK on `California` where assumed differences didn`t materialise. A song that meanders along and will have you joining in with the harmonious earworm of a chorus. We have a piano driven love song with `Rather Be` on which American singer Christina Perri) joins at around the half way mark along with a melancholic synthesised string arrangement.
`Can’t Get High` is a medium to fast paced number that reflects on the aftermath of a failed relationship and the memories you`re left with. I have to admit `Me & God` brought to mind the late, sadly missed Elliot Smith musically. I read that it was a composition that touches on faith and doubt as the singer attempts to reconnect with the God of his youth.
`All Night Stand` is another dreamy quite introspective musing that seems to hint at a relationship that is all consuming. We have a midtempo melodious offering in `Summer Somewhere` which is led by a strummed guitar as it seems to eulogise the virtues of that special someone in your life.
`Forever Endeavour` is a piano driven melancholic submission that seems to carry the world on its shoulders and maybe suggests hanging in there despite these dark times. We have a further elegiac piece with `Wiser Too` which seems to relate to somebody being there ready to support or pick up the pieces if the subjects romance falters.t
The album closes out with `The Walk` which is a kind of gospel tinged arrangement that could be interpreted in a number of ways lyrically possibly life being a journey to be lived or maybe some religious intonation. It seems to be left for you to decide.
` Dressing Like A Stranger` is an album that will need a number of listens before you can really appreciate it. To me it`s almost an album that suits a certain mood you happen to be in to be fully receptive. The singer has an enchanting and entrancing vocal delivery and there are a number of songs here that veer towards he melancholic, hence need a little more time spent to recognise and value. But it`s a release that i`m sure you`ll return to constantly.
Rating 8/10
