Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, a Fleetwood Mac-meets-Norah Jones grassroots band, may not be a national name yet, but with its latest album, This Is Somewhere, the band may find an audience in the adult contemporary crowd. After relentless touring, two albums and moderate word-of-mouth the band is breaking out into the mainstream, with appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Good Morning America among the media blitz.
But the assault into the pop world may prove to be the band’s crutch, or at least a disappointment to die-hard fans. This Is Somewhere is more mellow then the band’s previous work, featuring gentle guitar and piano intertwined with enticing lyrics. And 24-year-old lead singer Potter includes another element all her own. Along with powerful vocals, she adds a subtle twang to complement the band’s increased country sound that, unlike some country-pop artists, doesn’t overpower the music.
Album-opener “Ah Mary” is a misleadingly exciting and catchy track to kick off a handful of less-than-stellar ones. Although not quite radio-ready, for the off-beat group this tune is as American as it comes, and the rest of the album follows distinctly in its path.
Repetitive and dragging vocals characterize the slower songs on This Is Somewhere, doing nothing to show off the soul-inspired texture of Potter’s voice or display the band’s natural talent for the upbeat. But even some of the faster songs – which break only for bland guitar solos – blend into each other making them hard to distinguish from the next despite lyrics that, as per usual with The Nocturnals, tell very different stories.
“Here’s To The Meantime” is a break in the mediocrity – starting off slow and leading into a hard, fast sing-a-long, the only one of its kind on the meandering album. Another example of the Americana roots and country twist that tie the album together, “Here’s To The Meantime” shows off Potter’s improved strengths as a singer and writer. Not to mention you can’t help but pity whoever dumped the soulful, sexy songstress as she sings, “Look at the life that you been missin’/ look at the girl you could be kissin’/ look at what happened in the meantime.”
The slower ballads littering This Is Somewhere, such as “You May See Me,” and “Apologies,” are what brings the album down. Potter’s lyrics are intriguing as always but the songs don’t show off her vocal or instrumental talents, nor those of the rest of the band. And unlike the band’s previous albums, Nothing But Water and Original Soul, there is a similar feel to most of the tracks, rather than notes of several different genres blended together. Instead of alternating between old-fashioned rock, soul, funk and blues, this album seems to shy away from the band’s previously uninhibited realm of influences.
Overall, Potter’s voice and lyrics are what stand out here – not the ranging talents of the rest of the musicians, the combination of which was the beauty of the band’s first two efforts. This band is definitely getting somewhere, but This Is Somewhere hopefully isn’t it.
Contact reporter Courtney Pomeroy at cpomeroy@umd.edu.
