By David Rabinovitz****Preston Hammond is an uncommonly gifted vocalist whose emotional fearlessness enables him to bring out the depth in a lyric in every song that he tackles.
His recently released album, entitled Cover Me PRESTON, in addition to 5 covers, shows him also to be a versatile songwriter who is capable of laying out an unpredictable mix of storytelling scenarios.
His album opens with a song made famous by U2, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” He approaches it with a naturalness that captures the pathos of a lifetime of searching. As he caresses the notes you feel the tumultuous, contradictory mix of the vulnerabilities and bravery of a man who truly lives out the famous Socratic desideratum which says “the unexamined life is not worth living.”
In the first original tune of the album “You Are Beautiful,” the directness and tenderness of the sentiment is the purest example I can recall hearing of an unashamed and unadorned honesty that is heartbreaking in the faith and trust with which he addresses his loved one. In this tune, Preston shows himself to be a master of conveying the poignancy and yearning that are the basis of thousands of pop tunes—tunes that only strive for the intimacy he masterfully creates.
And then, bingo! The next original, “Kiss Me,” is a jaunty, insouciant, teasing come-on to an unaccountably shy object of affection, who is, nevertheless, assured that Preston is not merely trifling, as he calls out the reluctant one to open up to what they both know they want. This tune has a Paul Simonish flavor, which, in my book, is high praise indeed.
“For Pete’s Sake” is possibly as great a song as “Mr. Bojangles.” The character and the situation, with the sort of evocative details that are so difficult and important to work into a song, swing along with the help of a fun-loving cowbell, which tells as complete a story as compactly as possible and as deftly as the work of great writers like Flannery O’Connor, with whom Preston shares a Southern background.
“Nothing but Love for You Baby” features Preston harmonizing with himself and builds to a triumphant crescendo of self-transformation and an affirmation of Love as our ultimate saving power, thankfully contradicting the “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For “ sentiment with which the album began.
Of the covers, a word must be said about the way the Lady Gaga tune “The Edge of Glory,” an up–tempo, in your face dance bit, was turned into a mesmerizing plea, utterly re-configuring it and showing the value of thinking a song into another dimension, rather than settling for a mere rehash.
All the instruments on this album were played by Preston himself. He handled the production as well.
My fervent hope is that Preston Hammond becomes a widely known talent to be reckoned with in today’s often profoundly unjust music world. This album will, hopefully, begin that process.
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