Greg Laswell: Through Toledo

Greg Laswell's musical debut, Through Toledo, is a stunningly dark tour through a heart that is broken, dripping with minor chords, piano-driven sorrows and impressive guitar work. Laswell penned the album after his wife simply never came home, lending himself to his craft to work his way through the flood of emotions and the cycle of grief. Now, the listener instead has a portrait of this journey and yet it somehow sounds so wonderful all the same.

"Sing Theresa Says" starts the album in what quickly becomes typical Laswell fashion. It's a far-less-abrasive David Bazan singing over instrumentation from Coldplay's first album. Then again, maybe it's the second coming of Jeff Buckley collaborating with Ryan Adams on 29. "Amazed" and "Worthwhile" both carry the Bazan torch brightly and it isn't until "Do What I Can" that Laswell finally chills to a point that all comparisons to the Pedro the Lion vocalist can finally end. Instead, Aqualung comes to mind as Laswell's vocals lighten to a point of almost-hopefulness.

The best parts of the album are yet to come, however. "High and Low" feature a wistful falsetto set to minimal piano, evoking Chris Martin before he was Chris Martin. Laswell's search for his own love and heart become the listener's at this point and it stays that way through the album's fitting conclusion, "Your Melody." In between, the longing to escape ("Through Toledo"), the anger ("Come Undone"), and the emptiness ("Long Way Around") come through in such a way that you actually want to repeat the experiences.

The ability to take the oftentimes visceral human experience and turn it into something both true and meaningful is an ability that few can aspire to. Greg Laswell has opened his heart and mind in such a way to let the listener in on most aspects of a broken heart and, by doing so, gives us hope in the process. This record is absolutely brilliant.