Willy Mason managed to impress a lot of people before his debut album, Where the Humans Eat, came out in 2004. His earnestness, his clear love of American folk music, and his warm melodies won him fans among other artists as well as among the general public. His sophomore album, If the Ocean Gets Rough, shows these same characteristics, but it also shows him at a point where his flaws can't be as easily brushed off, or blamed on his youth. Not that there are many mistakes here: Mason is an impressive songwriter, able to construct mature pieces that have a sense of familiarity but still sound new and unique. "We Can Be Strong" sets itself around a bluesy bass-and-piano romp, but it also incorporates elements of pop in its harmonies and acoustic guitars, with Mason singing about trying to find himself as an adult. It's clearly a topic he's familiar with, and so it comes across as honest and realistic, and makes the track a standout. The same can be said about "When the River Moves On." He's clearly influenced by old-timey music but he doesn't feel he has to adhere completely to it, which allows him room to modernize it in a way that makes it very much his own, and so when he sings "My friends have all gone traveling/And there's panic on TV" over a Deep South-inspired lues line, the contemporary and the past fuse together cleanly and skillfully. It's when Mason tries to reach far beyond his own experiences that things start to seem a bit forced, like the clichéd "The World I Wanted" or "When the Leaves Have Fallen." But even these slight blemishes don't disfigure the overall beauty of If the Ocean Gets Rough, mostly thanks to Mason's compelling voice. With the lazy weariness of Tom Waits and the inflection of John Lennon, Mason makes every line he sings something worth listening to, something worth remembering. And when this is coupled with songs that can already stand strongly on their own, it makes for a pretty commanding album.
WILLY MASON – IF THE OCEAN GETS ROUGH (2007)RATINGThere’s something endearing about the way in which Willy Mason conducts his singer/ songwriter lifestyle, a sense that he’s not bound by the chains of his art. He carries no inclination to appear hip, has no ego, chooses not to appear aloof from his audience, and reading and listening to interviews, one gets the impression that monetary rewar
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When Willy Mason released his first album, 2004’s Where the Humans Eat he became the latest in a long line of troubadours to earn the “new Dylan” moniker. These comparisons weren’t without merit, especially when you consider first single Oxygen, a raging polemic against the evils of the modern world. The rest of the album was a triumph of gentle guitar, meandering vocals and witty lyrics t
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Pete Townshend and his partner Rachel Fuller brought their Attic Jam to South By Southwest this year. The show, which took place Thursday night, included folk-rocker Willy Mason, Scottish folk singer Alexi Murdoch, singer/songwriter Martha Wainright and British pop sensation Mika (Mica Penniman).Willy Mason performing at Attic Jam Thursday night. Photo by William SnyderMason, whose sophomore r...
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When Willy Mason released his first album, 2004’s Where the Humans Eat he became the latest in a long line of troubadours to earn the “new Dylan” moniker. These comparisons weren’t without merit, especially when you consider first single Oxygen, a raging polemic against the evils of the modern world. The rest of the album was a triumph of gentle guitar, meandering vocals and witty lyrics t
More >
Pete Townshend and his partner Rachel Fuller brought their Attic Jam to South By Southwest this year. The show, which took place Thursday night, included folk-rocker Willy Mason, Scottish folk singer Alexi Murdoch, singer/songwriter Martha Wainright and British pop sensation Mika (Mica Penniman).Willy Mason performing at Attic Jam Thursday night. Photo by William SnyderMason, whose sophomore r...
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WILLY MASON – IF THE OCEAN GETS ROUGH (2007)RATINGThere’s something endearing about the way in which Willy Mason conducts his singer/ songwriter lifestyle, a sense that he’s not bound by the chains of his art. He carries no inclination to appear hip, has no ego, chooses not to appear aloof from his audience, and reading and listening to interviews, one gets the impression that monetary rewar
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Willy Mason is an exceptional folk-rock kind of artist. He's young and passionate and his music reflects real thoughts and feelings. No jive. Check out this track, "When The River Moves On," off his recent and second album, If The Ocean Gets Rough.Just so all the cards on the table here, my son co-manages Willy Mason (he also co-manages Bob Pollard of Guided By Voices fame, the French Kicks, De...
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I've had Willy Mason's album 'If The Ocean Gets Rough' for a month or so now and I just can't stop listening to it. The whole album is amazing, there's not one dud track on it. It's difficult to pick out a favourite track, but if I did, I'd have to say...Riptide. It's just gorgeous and it also happens to be my most played track on my ipod at the moment.This album could well be a number one con...
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Gotta Keep Walking |
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| 2 The World That I Wanted |
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| 3 We Can Be Strong |
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| 4 Save Myself |
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| 5 I Can't Sleep |
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| 6 Riptide |
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| 7 When the River Moves On |
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| 8 If the Ocean Gets Rough |
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| 9 Simple Town |
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| 10 The End of the Race |
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| 11 When the Leaves Have Fallen |
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Click to purchase…
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 "If the Ocean Gets Rough")
