Warm days sitting on a Toronto streetcar, watching the city pass by at the same pace of this fresh song, you see illuminating smiles from the window – one scene after another of serene and delicate Autumn joys.

Now, despite sitting on my bed during one of the colder days of Spring, when hearing Matt Paxton’s single, “Dear Babe” off of his new album, Until the Sky Beings to Change, I couldn’t help but feel encapsulated in the above scenario. Freckled with fragile guitar riffs and soft vocals, we are sled into a pensive and curious story. On top of that are simple drumbeats, allowing a mellow finger snapping rhythm to boot.

“Dear Babe” is more complacent compared to the tunes on Paxton’s first album, Back Home In the Village. This single proves to overpower the instrumentals with vocals, contrary to perhaps the slight vice versa found in older songs like “City of Smoke” and “Down the Mountain as a Train.” Instead, you can sense country roots and eternal fields just waiting to be trekked through with modestly wild experiences. The lyrics describe the bittersweet dilemma of trying to win over love, and with that, a subtle relapse into acceptance if the battle is lost.

Although Paxton is overall too folksy for my taste, don’t hesitate to give it a listen if you need a tune to lie back on the grass with. “Dear Babe” more spacious than his older work, leaving you an uncluttered mind to contemplate whatever you please as you breathe in the beauty of nature.

Until the Sky Beings to Change will be released come Fall of 2010 – so if this sounds like your sort of groove, make sure to pick up a copy!

For More Matt Paxton,
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/mattpaxton

Watch Matt Paxton perform on Souther Souls here!

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Review By Melina Mehr