Honing his talents over the past years has reaped rich dividends, which crystallise themselves joyfully on his third official album release Micah P. Hinson and The Red Empire Orchestra. Wrapped in his uniquely rich baritone drawl and quaintly effervescent string arrangements, his new collection of songs adeptly showcase his maturity as a unique song writing talent. Steeped in introspective longing and wistful musing on burgeoning romance, the album is drenched in heart wrenching intimacy.

The rich nature of production marks new found confidence and distinct progression, from his last album The Opera Circuit, whereby this record builds upon the noted lo-fi credentials of its predecessor into a remarkably glorious sounding album. The accompanying strings provide an intrinsic base from which Micah’s vocals percolate forming angst ridden sound-scapes of bucolic charm.

The stylistic charisma of the album flows seamlessly throughout, capitalising on a rich variety of instruments at hand, the album’s subtle interweaving of musical styles with lyrical simplismlay at the heart of its charm. Tracks such as "Tell me it ain’t so", "I keep havin’ these dreams", "Sunrise over Olympus Mons" and "Dyin alone" leave you quivering in orchestral warmth, whilst "When we embraced" and "Throw the stones" will have your feet uncontrollably tapping along to their finger picking glory.

There is much excitement to be found in "You will find me" and "We won’t have to be lonesome", which offer potential highlights of the album. "You will find me" blends guitar motifs harking back to the hay day of American surfer rock with sweeping string arrangements, which lend themselves perfectly as a cushion with which to soak up Micah’s lugubrious timbre. Whilst "We won’t have to be lonesome" confirms him as a balladeer of very rare qualities, for it’s a fine line between saccharine and endearment, and Micah treads it with assured insouciance.

The album is certainly a slow boiler, and with the varied arrangement and subtle nature of the songs, the listener is certainly rewarded with repeated listens. This release should certainly increase the size of his audience, though if not, it will certainly find favour amongst those lucky enough to have already been privy to this man’s enormous song writing talents.

A lire aussi sur Froggy's Delight :

Micah P. Hinson en concert au Festival International Benicàssim 2008
L'interview de Micah P Hinson (29 avril 2008)
L'interview en VO de Micah P Hinson(29 avril 2008)

En savoir plus :
Le site officiel de Micah P. Hinson
Le Myspace de Micah P. Hinson