Calgary based singer/ songwriter Joal Kamps sounds a lot like a lot of other pop/ folk singers like jack Johnson, Peter Katz and Danny Michel and a touch of Dave Matthews on his new CD “Sojourner.”
He grabs your attention immediately with the guitar and fiddle powered “Amsterdamned.”
He has an appealing, very much pop influenced tenor voice through out and thought provoking, story-telling lyrics especially on “Old Soul.”
There is a lo
t going on musically in these well woven slices of pop including piano, some cello, mournful dobro and drums in the background.
‘Old Soul’ is the most moving of the tracks. The dobro really sells the sadness of the character.
The CD is very consistent sounding, so the songs sound very similar — same vocals, same layers of instruments, but there are some highlights like “Amsterdamned”, the religious themed “Learn To Pray,” which is marked by cello, and of course, “Old Soul.”
The violin is a nice touch on the sailor themed, Celtic tinged “Lighthouse.”
He shows he can hit really high notes on “Heart of Stone,” with the mournful refrain “Real Men Cry,” which is backed by tender piano and more cello.
The Cd ends with a pretty fingerpicked number “Wasting” which quickly picks up the tempo in a crescendo of crashing drums and piano.
Cd: Sojourner
Artist: Joal Kamps
Genre: folk/ pop
Record Label: indie
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