"She Comes to Me" - Adam Arcuragi
At once relaxed and intent, "She Comes to Me" is an instantly likable, subtly quirky acoustic strummer. And you should know that I don't have a lot of patience for run-of-the-mill acoustic strummers, which strike me by and large as a little, shall we say, boring. Despite what you might hear being aired on those they-mean-well-but-they're-really-sometimes-kind-of-dreadful "triple A" radio stations, songs are not good or wise or sensitive just because someone's playing an acoustic guitar and has an evocative voice.
"She Comes to Me" is good and wise and sensitive because it has movement and energy, because it's easy to listen to but difficult to pin down, because it is both aurally and structurally complex without being messy or silly. Unlike countless writers of run-of-the-mill acoustic strummers, Arcuragi here gives us a continually interesting melody, based on refreshing chord changes that don't seem to follow a predictable pattern. The melody is in fact somewhat hard to follow at first, but not in the least off-putting or strained. The typical acoustic strummer is a more lockstep affair, with easy to digest, regularly repeating chords and a plain--if not outright predictable--melody. Another worthy point of differentiation is Arcuragi's willingness to expand the instrumental palette beyond acoustic guitar, even as the acoustic guitar remains at the song's aural center. I particularly like the choir-like harmonies and the high-profile trumpets that are at once unexpected and exactly right.
Adam Arcuragi is a singer-songwriter born in Atlanta, now based in Philadelphia. "She Comes to Me" is from his second full-length CD, I Am Become Joy, released in June on High Two Records. MP3 via High Two. Thanks to Largehearted Boy for the lead.
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