Ash Grunwald - Life Without You (Down To Earth Blues Review)
- by Peter Källman
- in Reviews
Ash Grunwald releases a new track with a lot of soul titled “Life Without You”. The song has twangy guitars, decisive steady drums and benefits a lot from Ash Grunwald's vocals. I think the obvious choice would be to suggest this track goes into the main theme of a western movie. The track comes with a pretty cool visualiser that thematically fits really well with the song. The guitar solo is also pretty tasteful, really displaying a good use of the rule “less is more”. By many people, Ash Grundwald would be described as sort of a modern Blues legend. I think he is a hot contender for that status. He is an Australian musician and from what there is to gather, he is about as down to earth of a character as his music sounds.
This particular type of blues often sounds like something you would love to hear an elderly family member play on the porch of your farmhouse at the end of a hard day's work. Let me read you a short story that works over this song:
“As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm, golden glow over the tired fields, the old man, weathered by years of toil, eased himself into a chair on the creaking porch of his farmhouse. His calloused hands, worn from the hard labor, cradled a well-worn guitar, which had been his friend many evenings just like this one.”
Alright you get the picture. The song is very down to earth.
Ash Grunwald has been quoted many times as being a lover of not only nature, but also surfing. He says that man is seldom reminded that we are very much at the mercy of nature, and that surfing the big waves gives one a reminder of who is actually in charge. I think that sounds like a healthy way to check yourself and might also be something that is reflected in Ash’s very natural sound. I doubt there are any synth presets, samples or anything like that used in Life Without You. Not that there's anything wrong with those things, just describing the soundscape.
To be honest, I haven’t seen the sun for 5 days and I can’t go outside because it is so cold. So to be targeted with a song that feels hotter than mid-July right now is not the most ideal situation. But the important thing is that I can see a scenario where this song would actually fit. I can imagine the people that would like to listen to this song right now. I highly encourage you to listen and see if you are one of them. The track is certainly well made. I think a track like Life Without You is very fragile, because most of the result is in the hands of the artist. When they choose to paint this stripped back, all acoustic sonic painting, I think most of the work in “making it work” actually falls on the performance of the artist. That certainly differentiates this type of song from a lot of other music being released now, where producers and studio engineers get credited for less work than they actually do. I think that this track works with Ash’s unique musical mind on it. At the same time, if someone else tried to make a similar track, it might fall incredibly flat. Please do have a listen!
As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm, golden glow over the tired fields, the old man, weathered by years of toil, eased himself into a chair on the creaking porch of his farmhouse. His calloused hands, worn from the hard labor, cradled a well-worn guitar, which had been his friend many evenings just like this one.”
