Adam Douglas is considered one of Norway’s best guitarists. Now the American-born guitarist is back with his third album. On Better Angeles he proves again that singer-songwriter sound is not boring, but worth listening to.
Drawing on the current political and social unrest in his home country, Douglas draws comparisons to his own situation. He has arrived in the so-called middle of his life, he feels the division that runs through his homeland, looks at himself and feels the urge to raise his profile and affirm himself.
The call for ‘Better Angels’ was already used by Abraham Lincoln to appeal to the goodness of people. Joe Biden also used this phrase recently and Adam Douglas also uses it thousands of kilometres away from his home country. After ten years in Norway, however, the musician doesn’t seem to need any helping angels. He has arrived where he always wants to be. His sound sounds round and complete.
“The album is about how I grow into myself mentally. Lyrically and musically it’s about combining the right genres, the right types of music, the right styles, the right everything. It’s not that I wasn’t myself before, but now things really fit together and I’m doing what I’m supposed to do. I’m asking myself the questions I’m supposed to ask myself, and they’re leading to me becoming a middle-aged man,” the musician himself says about his album.
Adam Douglas on the search
The album is a typical singer-songwriter sound. If you ask the musician, he calls the genre “Adam” himself. it sounds typically like him. A lot of American blues, country, soul. It has everything you could wish for. It is a studio album produced with verve and love.
Listen to “Build a Fire”. Strings and brass like we love them. Or let the light country blues in Change My Mind carry you through a long night. Not sure about A Whistle To Blow actually, as rock `n roll was never quite mine. But the horns make the number interesting again.
All twelve songs on Better Angels make a wonderful album that once again shows the diversity, professionalism and passion of the musician. The album will be released on 23.04.21 on Compro Records and can be ordered on CD and vinyl. Find out more about Adam Douglas on his website, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Spotify.
Fotocredit: AdamDouglas by Torgrim Halvari
