Review: Debut Album Horizons Marks Trey Connor as a Talent to Watch
- by Adam Bailey
- in Featured
The journey towards this debut album has not been a straightforward one for its creator, 23-year-old singer-songwriter Trey Connor.
Completed across three different locations, Florida, Texas, and Michigan, the self-produced record Horizons took something of a nomadic route to existence. Having finally completed the record last year, the current global Coronavirus pandemic then forced its release back from April to June.
Upon first listen, there is absolutely no trace of such obstacles here though. This is an incredibly tight collection, with some slick production and a real musical diversity on display. Connor makes forays into rock, pop and a dance-tinged indie sound across Horizons’ nine tracks, and handles each genre with ease.
Fear comes flying out of the blocks, a gutsy opening track with a big chorus, and hot on its heels comes Lost In You, another high energy indie-pop song that feels ripe for radio play. Heavy To Hold slows things down, a tender ballad featuring Kimberly Underwood that sees Connor sing: “My heart is in knots / You’ve got me all twisted / I’m tied to a love that’s falling down.”
Latest single The Way You Move is built around a glorious riff and some thumping drums, while Diamonds To Dust is a gentle, mostly acoustic number that really shows off the range of Connor’s voice. This Emptiness is the heaviest track on the album, and a strong contender for the best song here, with its raucous distorted guitars and synth sounds.
As a teenager, Connor led his band Bulletproof Snow to the People's Choice Award at the Detroit Music Awards for his song Here We Come. His debut solo single Hold On dropped in 2016 and was followed up quickly with his first EP While Everything Is Now. He was also invited on to season ten of The Voice, but despite being one of the final 100 artists selected from 46,000 auditions, Connor did not appear on the show because the teams filled up before he had his chance to perform his blind audition.
That might have felt like a missed opportunity, but Horizons certainly confirms that Connor has more than enough ability to find success on his own terms.
Horizons track list:
- Fear
- Lost In You
- Heavy To Hold
- Happy Town
- The Way You Move
- I Guess I’m Sorry
- Diamonds To Dust
- The Emptiness
- We Are
Watch the lyric video for The Way You Move below:
