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Shades of 1970s Paul Simon abound on this young Californian’s delicate and devastating third album, produced by Phoebe Bridgers
Some say nostalgia is wasted on the young, but that doesn’t stop it being a good subject for songs. Jackson Browne wrote These Days, the 1967 classic of the genre, at 16. Adele’s weepiest ballad on 25 was When We Were Young. Christian Lee Hutson is an antique 29, but his new album, Beginners, picks apart the past with similar classicism, through intimate snapshots of early adulthood.
Ten years ago, the Californian Hutson was in the Driftwood Singers, a close-harmony country duo. He then released two solo albums (both now unavailable online), before meeting Phoebe Bridgers, who is now his producer and chief collaborator. Hutson’s style today is sensitive and unshow; his older voice has some of the curious tenderness of Elliott Smith. The influence of the early 70s solo albums of Paul Simon are present in Hutson’s guitar-playing and his lyrics, which are wistful, but with an edge. Continue reading...