With a sound that resembles a combination of Tom Waits and Dave Matthews, Andy Palmer’s hard, songful rasp brings the archetypal poet back to life. Coming out of Denver, Palmer’s 2nd full length album Hazard of the Die is an insightful reflection on both the city’s innovative music scene and its eclectic culture. Palmer paints a picture of a city that is up and down, black and white, good and evil. The album takes a bold step in portraying the realities of a world that is oftentimes cruel and unfair, with its raw poetics exposing life’s injustices.
Palmer initially became interested in music as a way to express himself as an introverted and frustrated young man. This unsettled young angst was depicted in Palmer’s earlier work and since then his music has become more hopeful and, inevitably, more attractive to mainstream listeners. Palmer’s musical career and progression shows growth and development that deserves well-earned respect from critics, listeners and fellow artists.
One of the album’s stand-out tracks, “The Defendant,” tells the story of the wrongly accused, expressing Palmer’s belief that much of life is entirely out of our control. The theme of this album is thinly veiled in its title and Palmer uses Hazard of the Die to tell the stories of how a simple twist of fate can make or break our lives. He does a phenomenal job of telling the stories of a painfully real world to a soothing and intimate soundtrack. Hazard of the Die is both timeless and present, moody and cool, offering listeners a smooth yet honest musical experience.
Hazard of the Die is another huge step in Palmer’s artistic development, proving him to be an imperative figure in Denver’s music and socio-political scenes whose work is simultaneously beautiful and influential. We are expecting the intriguing and innovative Hazard of the Die to bring more attention to Palmer…and are incredibly eager to see what his next step is.
I need this album, I want to hear it myself now.