Sam Foster Heatwaves Album Review
New content, new opportunities, and crafting a name for one’s self can be a perpetual struggle for artists of every genre as they grow. As life impacts art, artists of any form can choose to share or mask the impact it has on their art, but more often than not life is the ever-present influence. For musicians like Sam Foster, with growth comes insight. Fine-tuning his music with more storytelling, Sam has crafted a new album that takes influence from artists that have inspired him but maintain a unique feel from the influences of his life. Heatwaves, to be released on June 17, 2022, is Sam’s third album as a solo artist and his first with a new backing band The Obsoletes.
A regular of the NC music scene with former band Whiskey Foxtrot and countless performances as a solo artist, Sam has developed a presence and reputation that have many folks excited for this new release and eager to hear the evolution of his sound. I was unfamiliar with Sam’s solo work, but having seen Whiskey Foxtrot live in the past and reading up on Sam’s bio over at his website, it was easy for me to begin the first listen with a little bias as to what I could expect from Heatwaves. With a bio that calls his music “a little bit country, a whole lotta rock and roll,” I felt I knew what to expect. The very opening of the album with the crack of the keys and the rolling rhythm on “Let Me Out” starts off high tempo and carries that over into the next tracks, “Heatwaves,” “Smooth Silk Suit,” and “Custom Deluxe.” Early on with hints of inspiration that sound as if they range from Jason Isbell to Tom Petty I felt comfortable in knowing what I could expect from the rest of the album. It was here at track 5 “(Somebody’s Gonna) Get it Tonight” that Sam switches it up. Bringing in a completely different atmosphere, “(Somebody’s Gonna) Get it Tonight” paints a different picture both lyrically and musically and begins to highlight some of the elements that on return listens have jumped out from earlier in the album that I originally missed. The album continues to switch things up as “Seven Alarm” brings in a gentle touch with lovely harmonies and keys that along with the song’s rhythm moves up and down in just the right ways. My expectation of the “rock” portion of this album clicks and not really in the way I thought. “Seven Alarm” and “False Poet-Prophet” are great examples of how the keyboard sound of a bygone era of classic rock like The Doors and The Beach Boys can find themselves delivering inspiration even today. Other tracks like “Even Steven” and “Drama Queen” at times feel as if they could have jumped out from 90s rock radio and while unique to Sam do embed certain elements of nostalgia.
Overall, this album delivers in many ways. Each song clearly has a story to tell and the arrangement of the music across the board complements the stories being told, and the pictures painted in my mind. The production of the album sounds great and the final product demonstrates a total effort from everyone involved in showcasing Sam Foster as an artist with a vision of what he has to offer the world of music here locally, and wherever the road has him going in support of this new album.
Heatwaves is available on June 17, 2022, on all streaming platforms.
